My God

 

 

October 6, 2002

 

Where does a person start and where does a person finish when it comes to discussing the subject of God?

Here I am, suffering from a horrible head cold and yet all of my thoughts are focusing on Him, as I ponder on His greatness.

So, let this page be an attempt to praise, describe, discuss and feel the love that He has for us, an attempt to get a glimpse of who He is and what He wants to give to those who know Him.

 

As a young man, I never gave it a single thought that the time would come when I would develop a special appreciation for the world around me and for life itself.

I remember hunting sparrows with my sling and feeding them to the cats or catching butterflies and clipping their wings so that they could not fly too far from me.

When we heard that a pig or some other animal was about to be slaughtered, all of us kids in my neighborhood ran to watch this spectacle with no special sadness but rather with a savage anticipation of the event.

 

Today, as I ‘m approaching 50, I look at the world so differently. Some may think that my change of heart is because I’ve reached that point in life where I’ve become very aware of my own mortality thereby gaining a new and refreshing appreciation of nature and life in general.

However, I believe that the real reason is deeper than that.

 

Back in 1991, I made a special commitment and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, my character and outlook on life have been on a path of a steady and real transformation. Oh, I still don’t care much about cats because I believe that I’m allergic to them but the cruel urge to kick them at every chance I could get is gone!

I love sparrows and my heart breaks when I see them getting hurt as they try to fly through the big glass windows at my workplace. And believe it or not, I never thought that the day would come when I’d gain a new perspective on the snow and the rain.

You see, I grew up in Greece, a country with hot summers and very wet winters.

I used to dread the cold November rains and having lived in Vancouver for a few years, I had gotten to the point of hating rain with a passion.

But now, I look at my trees and my yard as they are welcoming the fall rains and I think of God. My heart and mind are like the trees and the grass thirsty for the love of God and eager to receive every single drop of His heavenly rains.

In the winter, in the middle of the cold night, I look outside my window and see the dancing snow flakes around the lamppost and much like the psalmist I want to shout in admiration, “ Great are your works oh Lord for you have created everything with Wisdom!”

 

I wake up in the morning and no matter how sick or tired I feel, I have that special confidence that my life is in good hands. No obstacle is big enough for the power of my Lord. It does not matter anymore what misfortunes and sufferings may be just around the corner. I am thankful that God cared enough for me to create me. I breathe the fresh air and know that I am not only alive but alive with a purpose under the direction of a Master planner!

 

I think of parallel earths and parallel universes, universes without end, of other beings and billions of planets and I wonder how great God must be! And before that thought leaves my mind, I can’t help but feel so special: special because the Almighty God was thinking of me, John Costouros, before He laid the foundations of this world.

It was long before time began that my Lord was planning my salvation.

I believe that Jesus would have died on the cross even if I were the only human being that

ever existed!!!

 

I see the troubles of this world, diseases, earthquakes, floods and famines, cruelty, poverty and crimes and get a small glimpse of the pain that God must feel for His creation. But despite all that, I’m comforted through His Word that Jesus is coming back soon as He promised. And then, I see the millennium kingdom, no more pain nor tears and a new heaven and a new earth where God lives with His people.

 

It is the promises of Jesus and the great hope of His return that help me face the world every day. And when I visit my bedridden mother at the nursing home, I think and talk to her about the soon-to-come days when we will be free of this time and space restricted bodies and take a trip among the stars, maybe somewhere in the Pleiades constellation or some Greek coffee house on Mars!

 

“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh [himself] with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth [herself] with her jewels.” Is. 61:10

 

In the final analysis, it all comes down to who we are and where we stand vis-à-vis God that defines our understanding of who He really is. As long as we live in the flesh, we will have only a small taste of His greatness and infinite love.

But the time is near:

 

“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him”[ Rev. 1:7 ] and those who have placed their trust in Him “shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is”[1Jn 3:2 ] 

 

 

 

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