I recently heard Ravi Zacharias describe our God as the “God of the Gaps.” He got me thinking….
Our God is Holy. That means perfect. I believe every sane person is fully aware we are not perfect. So, how can a perfect God be friends with imperfect people without being contaminated?
Other faiths lead people on paths hoping they might be good enough to gain acceptance by their gods. These paths are inadequate and leave gaps between humans and our creator.
Can we do enough good things to balance out or erase the bad things we have done and thought? Yes, our thought lives are very much a full partner in these equations. The Creator knows everything, even our thoughts.
Is it possible to do a sufficient number of good things over many reincarnated lives to merit a relationship with a holy God? What do we do with our failures? Do we begin again as annoying bugs in hopes of reaching perfection? The gaps are vast!
What if we calm ourselves into states of nothingness? Might that state of emptiness qualify us to be friends of God?
Some may try to be good, but knowing they aren’t good enough on their own, throw themselves on the mercy of God. They know our Creator is good and loving, therefore He must certainly be willing to dismiss our messes…. So what motivates us to keep from making the gap bigger? Is there a point of not being able to fill the gap?
The mercy of God is complete, but it is also slightly conditional. I say slightly because His mercy is offered to ALL and given freely, but each person must choose to accept it as their own free gift, not earned.
Our Creator has always known we could never be holy enough on our own to close the gap. We are all created in the image of God, because we are made to be friends of God. God has never been surprised by the gaps, the great distances between people and His holiness. Before the Creator created, He planned for the gaps!
The Good news is of course Jesus Christ reconciling us to our Creator though His death on the cross that redeems us if we accept. The Good News gets even better. God is the giver of life and the sustainer of life. Likewise, the gaps in our everyday lives are met with the same completeness as Jesus on the cross.
As followers of Jesus we remember we are saved by grace for eternal life but sometimes we lose sight of God’s daily redemptive acts as we lean into Jesus to forgive those who offend us, love the ones close to us who inadvertently hurt us, draw on His strength to face ordinary and extraordinary challenges and pull on Him to experience comfort in our daily needs. No other gods are able to fill these gaps as effectively, gently or lastingly as our Creator and Redeemer: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Our God is the God of the every day gaps…, not only the eternal gap.
What gaps in your life will you invite the “God of the gaps” into?
