Unknowable 

“Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
    his understanding has no limit.” Psalm 147:5

At St Michael’s and All Angels there was also a strong sense of the mystery of God.  God wants us to be able to know Him through scripture and prayer and worship, and of course through Jesus.  But God is vast beyond our imagination.  We cannot fully or completely understand who He is or what He has done for us.  At St Michael’s and All Angels, they celebrate Holy Communion every week and the prayers include us proclaiming the “mystery of faith”, “Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!”.  In each of those 3 statements we might have a whole lot of questions – how, why, when?! We won’t get full answers this side of heaven, but we can come to God in faith, hope and trust, knowing we are held that that mystery.

At one of the services, we were given the opportunity to light a candle as a prayer for someone. I lit a candle for my brother who has been unwell for a number of years now.  I don’t understand how and when God will work in this situation, and I have long since run out of words to say in prayer, but through lighting the candle I could hold my brother before God in that mystery and in faith, knowing that God is with him and He is with me and my family too in the hoping and waiting.

Each week at the church as I allowed myself to enter into the mystery of our vast and wonderful and loving God, with the sights and sounds and smells connecting me to God without my brain needing to find words, I became very aware of the Grace of God.  We don’t need to understand and have it all worked out. Our salvation and life with God isn’t dependent on us, it’s dependent on Him.  As someone with a science background I like to know the answers, but when it comes to God, I’m learning to enjoy the relief of being held in the unknown.

Louise McFerran 19/01/2022
 
Photo by Mike Labrum on Unsplash