In the Old Testament, God's followers would create and/or refer to God using a compound name in response to the particular revelation of His character they experienced. For instance, in Genesis 22, God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac, but before Abraham can complete the sacrifice an angel of the Lord stops him and God provides a ram for Abraham to sacrifice in place of Isaac. In the face of such provision, Abraham names the place "The Lord provides," referring to God with the compound name Jehovah-Jireh. Another instance occurs in Exodus 15 when God promises not to bring the diseases He brought on the Egyptians on the Israelites if they obey His commands. In this instance, God calls Himself Jehovah-Rapha, or the God who heals. One can find many other names and descriptors of God in the Bible, but these two always stick out to me as distinctive reminders of the power, might and mercy of God exceedingly above anything this world could offer.
This morning, I had my own particular revelation of God. Honestly, it wasn't a mind-blowing event like Abraham's encounter with the angel of the Lord, but it was a divinely mundane moment full of the taste of heaven. I was sitting on my first bus of the morning (my commute involves 2 buses, a train ride, and a shuttle bus) eating my oatmeal, and I was suddenly struck by the delightfulness of what I was eating. Oatmeal is a new addition to my diet, but my wonderful cookbook had a recipe for a homemade oatmeal mix with dried cranberries, dried apples, a little bit of brown sugar, and cinnamon. So, this week I decided to do the mature thing and give it a try. Since Monday, I have found myself actually looking forward to eating my oatmeal, but this morning was a unique experience. As I took refuge in the bus, a typically depressing place to be even on a good day, from the cold rain outside, I opened up the cup of oatmeal I had just warmed at home, sank my spoon into the creamy goodness, and experienced a new sensation as it hit my tongue--surprise, utterly delightful surprise! The dried apples and cranberries had plumped up just right, the oatmeal had reached the ideal state of earthy creaminess and the cinnamon was like comfort food wrapped up in a smell. In that moment, I felt a unique closeness to God.
I recently had to read Genesis 1 for a class, and after creating man and woman (in the Genesis 1 creation account) God says, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and
every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food." (NIV Genesis 1:29) As a descendant of Adam and Eve and a creature in God's wonderfully made creation, I believe that I experienced this morning a glimpse of the holy act it is to participate in the gift God gave Creation from the very beginning in the form of food. I mean, have you ever thought about that God didn't have to give us food? He could have created us to gain our energy and sustenance by standing in the sun 20 minutes every day. But He didn't! He created beautiful, wonderful food and the creative minds that take pleasure in finding delicious ways to prepare it. And above all that, the necessity of stopping to prepare and eat food has built in time for us to socialize and feed our souls off of time spent with family and friends over a meal.
These days food has gotten a bad reputation in our society. There are diets telling you what you should and should not eat, restaurants offering quick and filling (though often not healthy) food options for the person on the go, and television shows advocating all manner of eating habits. But let us not forget, food is a part of God's divine creation, given to human to sustain life. Instead of viewing the consumption of food as a God-ordained right of humanity, may I take this as a divinely-given responsibility, not only to feed my family well, but also to use the fruits of the earth responsibly, to the glory of God the Creator and Maker of good foods.
so thought-provoking!!!!
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