{"id":339,"date":"2005-06-03T21:58:23","date_gmt":"2005-06-03T21:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2005\/06\/our_enormous_go.shtml"},"modified":"2021-05-29T02:46:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T02:46:50","slug":"our_enormous_go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2005\/06\/our_enormous_go.shtml","title":{"rendered":"Our Enormous God"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>While on our recent trip, I had about 20 hours in the car to think and pray (and listen to Disney DVDs playing behind me).  As a result there are a few things on my mind; hopefully I&#8217;ll get several posted this weekend.  I&#8217;ve got grass to cut, a garage to clean out, a date with my wife, a going away party for friends and car parts to order, so that may be wishful thinking.<\/em><br \/>\nAs we were driving to our layover hotel in Danville, IL (A story I&#8217;ll share later) Friday night I had an amazing revelation about our God.  You know how you can just be surrounded by something day in and day out and just not notice it?  That&#8217;s how I felt Friday night.  As I typed it tonight it sounds a lot like a 60&#8217;s drug trip, but it was real and profound at the time.<br \/>\nIt was generally overcast that afternoon as we traversed western Ohio and all of Indiana.  As the sun set, a few breaks in the clouds appeared on the horizon and we were treated to a spectacular sunset.  The sky was vibrant purple, pink, red and orange with streaks of slate blue-grey clouds through it.  It appeared as though we were traveling down a shallow slope into a valley with some psychedelic mountain rising off in the distance, waiting for us to climb.  It was rather surreal and made the vast distances of crossing this country stark and plain.  It&#8217;s hard to explain, but suddenly I could <em>feel <\/em> the distance of a thousand miles where it is usually only and intellectual exercise to comprehend how far away Kansas, Colorado or California is.<br \/>\nAs I contemplated the illusion of this &#8216;bowl&#8217;, arching up and away in the distance, it occurred to me that I was actually seeing the exact opposite, the inside of the &#8216;cloud bowl&#8217;, arching down and away as the grey blanket followed the curve of the earth.  It was then that I was struck with the real size of the planet.  I could see the Earth as a sphere, not just understand that it is a sphere, but see it as one, and imagine it as I drove along it.<br \/>\nI was instantly struck with how tiny, no infinitesimal, I am on this great ball.  I am a nothing, a speck, a dot.  Not only that, but my God is bigger than the Earth.  In fact, he envelops it, covers it much like the cloud blanket I was enjoying seemed to extend infinitely in all directions.  I was suddenly awe struck that this mighty creator, bigger than the entire planet of which I am an insignificant spec, is my friend who longs to fellowship with me.<br \/>\nI though of this more on Tuesday night on a prayer walk.  A flashing light drifted across the sky, another tiny spec that was in reality a couple hundred people in a big metal tube high in the sky.  I thought about God&#8217;s creation, not only of this world, but the entire universe.  I stood in awe at how enormous, strong and mighty our God is.  And yet, <em>he longs for us<\/em>.  No, even better, <em><strong>He came down as one of us<\/strong><\/em>.  He became an infinitesimal spec on a small planet off in the corner of an enormous universe so that maybe He could have a relationship with a few of us.  The awesome universe enveloping God packaged into about 8 pounds of human flesh in a barn.  It blows my mind, and mostly I can&#8217;t really comprehend it.  But this past week, for just a moment or two, it was a little more real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While on our recent trip, I had about 20 hours in the car to think and pray (and listen to Disney DVDs playing behind me). As a result there are<a href=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2005\/06\/our_enormous_go.shtml\" class=\"more-link\">Read More <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Our Enormous God<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Our Enormous God - salguod.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2005\/06\/our_enormous_go.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Enormous God - salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While on our recent trip, I had about 20 hours in the car to think and pray (and listen to Disney DVDs playing behind me). 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After chiseling my car out from under over 1\/2\" of ice, I made it to work (~24 miles) in heavy snow and sleet in decent time. However, before the morning was done I made that trip two more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Family and Friends&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Family and Friends","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/family-and-friends"},"img":{"alt_text":"twitch.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.salguod.net\/weblog\/images\/twitch.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":496,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2006\/05\/midweek_lesson.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":339,"position":1},"title":"Midweek Lesson &#8211; Dreams &#038; Personal Vision","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"May 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been leading our house church for a few months now. I've meant to post my notes on our midweek lessons each week, but have forgotten to. We have our midweek lessons in our house churches (just smaller groups, arranged mostly by geography) most weeks, meeting as a churhc once\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles, papers and lessons&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles, papers and lessons","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/articles-papers-and-lessons"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":452,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2006\/02\/romans_11.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":339,"position":2},"title":"Romans 11","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"February 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Romans 11:4-6 - Does this mean, as it seems to imply, that God picked out some folks back in Elijah's day an kept them from sinning? And that, in Paul's day, God had picked out some Jews to be 'His'? The implication, at least in my mind, is that perhaps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Quiet Time Journal&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":760,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/01\/i_think_i_need.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":339,"position":3},"title":"I Think I Need a Break","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"January 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm coming to a conclusion that I've been trying to avoid for a long time. Avoid it while, ironically, implementing it by failing to post anything of substance. I need to take a break, of sorts, from blogging. I've felt like posting some stuff, felt I should be posting some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Salguod.net stuff&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Salguod.net stuff","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/salguod-net-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":543,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2006\/08\/18_years.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":339,"position":4},"title":"18 years","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"August 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"18 years ago today (Oops, lost track of what day it was. It was yesterday, the 26th.) I joined the family of God. After a couple of months of studying the Bible, re-evaluating what I had thought was my faith and making some hard decisions on what I wanted my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;God and Church&quot;","block_context":{"text":"God and Church","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/god-and-church"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":464,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2006\/03\/sometimes_i_wis.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":339,"position":5},"title":"Sometimes I Wish I Could Just Lie","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"March 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I still have the Escort. I've offered it for free to anyone who needs a car here. I've even offered to put the clutch in and replace the brakes, if the recipient will buy the parts. I've had 3 folks say they were interested and then back out. There is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Other stuff&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Other stuff","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/other-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1934,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions\/1934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}