Chpt. 2, God's Decrees - The Photos.

Joshua, Maine


[ "“Every purpose is established by counsel…” Proverbs 20:18
“…who hath been his counsellor?” Rom 11:34
“Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” Act 15:18
“…according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” Eph 1:11

What blessed truth! O Father of infinite wisdom, thank You. Do you not see all my ways, and count all my steps? Surely, O LORD, my steps are ordered by You. Order them in Your word, O God. Guide my feet in a straight path that I may sing praise unto You. Let my mouth sing unto God, for You have done excellent things and this is known in all the earth. Let all the earth rejoice and sing praise unto You, God Most High! Amen." ]

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Gregory, Iowa



[ It is hard to contemplate the eternality of God's decrees, and even more in the face of trials and suffering, but even so, He has counted every hair that has fallen and will fall from my beard. ]

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Kim, Minnesota



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Nathan, Tennessee



[ I know it may be a little cliche, but the lines left on this piece of bark reminded me of a maze, which in turn made me think of how what we see (being stuck in the maze) is so drastically different than what our Lord sees (the whole picture). He created this world and this life, and to assume that anything that happens could ever take Him by surprise is ridiculous. A god who could not see past, present and future all at once, who was sometimes forced to change his plan, or who saw and knew the same things we did, would not be God. To think that our God has no need of us, knows we will very frequently make mistakes, and yet still loves us enough to sacrifice Himself is mind-blowing. ]

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Bethany, Tennessee



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Heidi, Iowa



[ As creatures of linear time (and myriad other limitations), we see through a glass darkly. (But we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is!) Here and now is one sliver of reality. Our God exists outside of time. God looks through all these slivers simultaneously, seeing each part of the story in the same moment, finished. (It was for our benefit, Sweet Jesus, that You entered time and moved painstakingly through it to finally proclaim, "It is finished!") God sees completely--then, now, always, everything: the moment of the creation of light; a star over a stable in Bethlehem; an understated but Holy Baptism in the River Jordan; Jesus' agony in the garden; God nailed to a cross (did Satan, who is NOT-God, briefly think he might have actually won?? Enter the "deeper magic from before the dawn of time"): Empty Tomb!; Holy Spirit working in and through souls living in a kingdom as temporary as the air of which its leader is prince; bands of believers holding onto the hope of the Blood of Jesus in an age of airplanes and facebook and genetic engineering; that future point at the end of time-as-we-know-it when Jesus finally claims His victory over all. God sees, now, the end of this story which--from our perspective--hasn't happened yet, but which in God's reality (the only reality), has; the future end in whose present reality we hope, live, move, breathe, and have our being. Imagine: Our Jesus blessed us who, though we have not seen Him, yet believe. Seen His face we haven't, but tasted and seen that He is good, we surely have. And believe we do. I already know the shape of this story--ending included--though I am incapable of imagining its scope or its brilliance. Still, I stake every bit of my hope in that end. I love that Jesus knows and sees it now. I love that Satan and his servants know it too, and tremble. Through linear time, I hold on. I try to remember to live as if the ending already happened, because it has. (Outside of time. In God's reality.) While many days I groan along with all of creation plodding through time and waiting for completion, I try to remember the unfathomable nature of our God, about whom is made the outrageous claim: "the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Show us the broken chains of death. Make us finally fit our names. Have Your day before Your creatures. Begin the never-ending, glorious epilogue. Shake the shakeable, and establish Your Kingdom forever. And for now, in Your great mercy, remind me every step of the way: This is the shadow. You are the Sun. ]

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Diego, Columbia



[ For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

There are so many things about God that we are unable to know yet he is worthy of our Praise and Worship. ]

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