Job 36: 22 – 36 Isaiah 55: 8 – 9

As a kid, I imagined God as being like The Wizard of Oz. That big, almost ghost-like head, with a deep and powerful voice in that big throne room with fire shooting up out of the floor scared me. (But not as much as those flying monkeys!) And such was my picture of God: A large, powerful, male-ish type being, sitting on a throne in some big palace.

Well, to my defense, we are given that picture of God in The Bible. (bonus read: Revelation 4) But is that what God really looks like? Not literally, no. So many works of art depict God as an old, wise looking fellow with a long white beard. Is that what God really looks like? No.

It is impossible for us to even begin to picture or understand God. Job 36: “God is beyond our understanding.” Why? We are not in the same dimension as God. We humans are restricted to understanding things in the dimension of our 5 senses. God is beyond them. Even our puny, speck-of -dust size brains cannot even comprehend, much less understand God.

I hear criticism of God in the punk/hxc (and other) scenes, that “God is not good”, or “If God were good he would…” or “God should this, or that”. The problem with that is that we are trying to picture or understand God in human terms. That’s not entirely our fault as we only have human intellect and (5) senses to work with.

That is why faith is really an important factor in beginning to understand God. We cannot do so without faith. God transcends our reality. Faith is the beginning of our connection with that dimension where God is.

Otherwise, we are changing God into something he isn’t. We’re trying to make him into, and understand him as a human. Psalm 50: “…you thought I (God) was like you!” That is not a good approach.

The subculture questions authority. This is good. It is good to seek answers and understanding. But in trying to picture or understand God, it does require something more than humanity has ability to do.

“Your ways and thoughts are not like mine”, God says in Isaiah 55. “Mine are higher.” Seek God through faith.

- Richard M.