He Speaks to Me Everywhere (3)

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters… Revelation 1.12-15

This, like that
The efficiency of language depends in large part on metaphor, on comparing something known and familiar with something less well known, to bring the clarity of the one to the task of illuminating the other. When we use a metaphor, we’re trying to “make sense of the new and unknown in terms of the old and known,” as Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander put it in their book, Surfaces and Essences. The authors continue, in writing about metaphor – or thinking by analogy – “the human ability to make analogies lies at the root of all our concepts.”

We make sense of new or unfamiliar things by associating them, in specific ways, with old and familiar things. In seeking to understanding something difficult or new, we say “this is like that,” and thus our understanding grows.

God made us to think in these ways, and so it’s not surprising that, in revealing Himself and His will, He makes large use of analogies and metaphors, such as the string of similes presented in Revelation 1.12-15.

God’s use of metaphor
Throughout the Scriptures God uses referents from the created world, including culture, to reveal Himself, His attributes, or His plan.

God’s people are like arrows, to subdue His enemies (Zech. 9.12). His voice is like the thunder and roar of mighty oceans (Ps. 29.3, 4). His wisdom is like the ant, and His presence everywhere is like the lizard (Prov. 24-28). Jesus employed a wide range of analogies to teach us how to think about the Kingdom of God. It’s like a net, He said, or a pearl, or treasure, or seed, or field, and so forth. His people are like sheep, or like the various members of our bodies.

God wants us to know Him, and so He speaks to us in familiar terms and says, “I’m like that.” He expects us to make the associations between what we know and He wants us to learn by thinking carefully about what He says.

As we begin observing the creation and culture around us, recording the daily minutiae that greet our eyes or fall on our ears, we can associate our observations with specific aspects of the character and purposes of God, by understanding how God uses such referents in Scripture to reveal Himself.

The guiding Word
“This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas…”

As you are reading your Bible, use your creational theology notebook to jot down instances in which God refers to Himself or His Kingdom by metaphor or analogy – this is like that. Develop a catalog of these references, adding Scripture from various places to each item in your catalog as you come across it.

Make a point to reflect at length on these images, as part of your discipline of meditation. What is God saying about Himself or His will or Kingdom in each of the entries in your catalog? Why, for example, is an arrow a good way of thinking about God’s people? What do arrows do that helps us to understand our mission and calling? Jot down your thoughts as you meditate.

Or how is God like roaring waters (Ps. 29, Rev. 1)? Or a flowing river (Pss. 1, 46; Jn. 7.37-39)? What do you know about such aspects of creation that help you know God better? How does God want you to think about Him, given what you know about these very familiar, everyday objects and experiences?

By associating your observations with similar referents in God’s Word, you can train your mind to discern the light of God’s glory in your daily observations. Scripture must be the touchstone and standard for all our work in creational theology, so the more time you invest in listing and meditating on creational referents, as you come across them in Scripture, the better equipped you’ll be to search out the hidden glory of God in your daily observations.

A powerful windstorm has just blown through our peaceful valley community. Trees were uprooted. Power lines came down. Our home shook in the dark morning hours of near-hurricane-force wind. We should not fail to appreciate the power of such events to remind us of God’s greatness and mercy. Through His voice in the creation, God calls us to wonder about His might, worship Him for His majesty and mercy, and bear witness to Him from these “mere edges of His ways” (Job 26.14).

“He speaks to me everywhere,” Maltbie B. Babcock insisted. Because He speaks in metaphors, we can use these to guide us in reflecting on everyday observations; and using these as springboards for association, discover in the various aspects of our experience, portals to the glory of the living God.

For reflection
1.  Let’s think about a river, for example. God uses this metaphor to help us understand Him. What about a river suggests how we should think about God?

2.  Jesus used seeds to help us think about the Kingdom of God. Why is a seed like the Kingdom? How does this metaphor help you think about the coming of the Kingdom in your life?

3.  By associating God’s use of creation and culture to reveal Himself in His Word, we can become more aware of the ways He is revealing Himself in creation and culture around us. A mindset of association will develop in us that can often yield surprising insights to God from things we see and hear each day. Explain.

Next steps – Transformation: Take one of the metaphors mentioned in this article by which God reveals Himself – wind, water, fire, etc. – or His Kingdom – seeds, treasure, arrows, etc. Meditate on this metaphor, thinking about it in as much detail as you can, praying your thoughts back to God as you meditate. What makes this a particularly helpful way of thinking about God? How does this exercise help you in developing a mindset of association?

For a fuller study of the disciplines of creational theology, order the book, Consider the Lilies: A Plea for Creational Theology, from our online store (click here). The glory of God is always at hand, if we know how to discern, enter, and express it. Our booklet, Christians on the Front Lines of the Culture Wars, can help you learn to recognize the glory of God, and to glorify Him in even the most everyday details of your life. Order your copy by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.