Inconceivable

Inconceivable

This is the word that comes to mind this morning as I think about God.  And in my mind it sounds just like this running bit from the movie The Princess Bride:

It also sounds like this verse from Corinthians:

As it is written:  “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
    the things God has prepared for those who love him— (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Inconceivable.

I think this is why sometimes it seems like a poem or a song speaks better than a sermon, and why sometimes I think the scripture itself speaks more eloquently than my analysis or explanation of it. There is beauty and mystery about God that requires the eloquence of poetry and music, and maybe that's why some of the scriptures in the Bible are poetry and music.

In the same way, actions can also sometimes speak louder than words about the things of God.  Kindness and generosity can make the inconceivable conceivable as they demonstrate love that crosses boundaries and forgiveness that defies expectations.  The greatest example of this is Jesus’ death on the cross that demonstrates God’s love for us in the most dramatic way possible.

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other;

let us show the truth by our actions. (1 John 3:19)

Actions do speak, and music and poetry speak eloquently.  Words sometimes seem so inadequate.  And yet at times nothing but words can make things clear.  There are many ways to say “I love you” but sometimes saying the actual words is necessary to fully convey the meaning behind the actions.   Would we fully understand what happened on the cross without the words of the Bible to explain it?

It seems inconceivable to me sometimes that God can work through the words in the Bible or the words of a sermon or a prayer to touch hearts so deeply, but he does.  Paul explains this in his letter to the Corinthians with these words:

These are the things revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:10)

This is why prayer is so vital. 

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. (1 Corinthians 2:13)

The things of God, the beauty and mystery of God, are inconceivable . . . and yet somehow conceivable as the Holy Spirit speaks to us.

May the Spirit speak to you today of the beauty and mystery of God.

Here are two pieces that speak that way to me.  What expresses the beauty and mystery of God for you?