365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 92: God Who Can Be Seen

God Who Can Be Seen

"My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." (Job 42:5 NIV)

I've admitted in the past that I sometimes wish I could "see" God the way a few of His people in ancient times were allowed to see Him: as a burning bush (okay, that was only one person, and Moses at that, but still); as a pillar of cloud or fire; in the flesh.

But then I have to remind myself that these were instances when God showed Himself in some physical form to a relatively small number of people for a relatively short period of time. His greater goal is for all people to see Him all the time, at any time. 

God is immortal and invisible, but He is also relational and revealed. 

He is the God Who Sees, and He is also the God Who Can Be Seen. 

Job saw Him: "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." (Job 42:5).

Hagar saw Him: "She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: 'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me'" (Genesis 16:13).

Mary saw Him: "Mary of Magdala went to the disciples with the news: 'I have seen the Lord!'" (John 20:18).  (Admittedly, Mary saw Him in the flesh, but I truly believe she was also proclaiming a sighting that went far beyond seeing His physical body.)

We see the God Who Can Be Seen through what He has made: "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made" (Romans 1:20).

We see Him through what He has done: "I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. The LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes" (Psalm 118:13,14,23).

We see Him through what my Bible's reference section calls "the telescope of faith": "By faith, [Moses] left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27).

Dear friends, how I pray you'll get a glimpse or a full-on view of God today and that when you do, your mind and heart echo Mary's shout: "I have seen the Lord!"