God isn't a firefly that we can catch in a jar. We can't capture His ways. There's no catching up to the One who created existence. No controlling the One holds the world in his Hands. Our sovereign God evades our figuring out.
When we spot Him, it's only because He chose to make Himself known for that moment in time. Then He hides. He leaves us wondering where He'll show up next.
The journey of faith is the catching of flickers. Like the dancing of fireflies in the midnight summer sky: God shows up, then He's gone.
In Winks from Scripture, Chris Palmer takes you through New Testament narratives, pointing out ambiguities and uncertainties that resist clarity or answers. If we dig a little deeper, God just might surprise us with a wink.
John's Gospel, for example, opens by declaring, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Throughout John, however, people stubbornly insist He is just a man. Jesus plainly tells the Samaritan woman at the well that He is the Messiah, yet she runs and tells her village, "Come, see a man..."
God winks and winks. In the end, John circles back to the beginning of his gospel: "These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God..."
These brief, luminous winks of radiance into our lives leave us with a sense of awe, anticipating the next wink that will signal that God is out there somewhere. He is watching and letting us know He is at work among us.
