"I AM" From A Writer's Viewpoint

Exodus 3:13-14 Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they shall say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you." NKJV

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." NKJV

Whoa! What an awesome, all-inclusive statement You and Your Son made, Father! Unable to sleep last night, I pondered the total lack of adjectives, adverbs, or any other kind of modifiers in those statements. I wondered if You meant, "I AM, period?" Or did You mean, "I AM ____ (fill in the blank, according to your need)"? Maybe You meant both? Or maybe what You said is beyond human comprehension.


As a writer - and a human one, at that - I've spent a great deal of time searching for the right modifiers of both nouns and verbs. So You can understand the difficulty I have as I try to wrap my mind around, "I AM". I hear Christians saying, "God is love, period," and I am struck with the incompleteness of that view. It's like saying a beautiful multi-faceted diamond is "lovely." It can also hurt one if it is not treated with a healthy respect for sharp edges.


I remember going through the entire Bible, starting at Genesis 1:1, and working my way towards the very last word of Revelation. I remember how Your personality seemed to take on new facets with every new book. At one point in The Old Testament, You seemed so orderly…so creative…so ingenious! Then You seemed very rigid and, sometimes, even cruel. Then I saw Your possessive, jealous side. Of course, Your sovereignty and power came through, loud and strong. And then I saw You giving Your children chance after chance. And I found myself wondering why You took the great risk of giving man free will? Seemed like everyone in the Bible was using it to hurt You!


Then I saw the great love You exhibited as You came down to earth, gave up Your glory, and made it possible for me to have an intimate relationship with You. I noticed how terribly flawed all those heroes of The Bible were, and how You delighted in using weak things - and weak people - to display Your strength. And I was grateful, for I, too, am weak.


Father, I know my finite mind cannot possibly grasp all You meant by "I AM", but I love pondering the enormity of what You said. Thank You for the use of that present tense verb. It assures me that You are with me every second of every minute.


And thank You for giving me a mind that is so easily sparked by Your Word, and an imagination that cannot be satisfied on this earth. Oh! I have so much to look forward to when I see You face-to-face!

(c) 2007 April Lorier