No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. – 1 John 4:12
I remember hearing the question once, have you ever seen the wind? Without hesitation, many of us say yes, we know what wind is, we have seen what wind does, therefore we believe we have seen the wind. But have we really seen the wind? The speaker went on and told us that we have not seen the wind, we have only seen the effects of the wind.
We feel the wind on a hot summer day as it comes to us as a cool breeze of relief. We see the damage of the wind after a strong thunderstorm or tornado. We have seen the devastation that the winds of a hurricane can bring. We have understood how to harness the wind to achieve flight, and even energy. We can predict patterns in the wind and formulate weathercasts. However, no matter how much we understand the wind, or how much we have seen caused by the wind, we still haven’t seen the wind.
The Hebrew language and people hold a deep secret about the wind and as it relates to God, for them the same word means wind, breath, and spirit. Often this word is used to describe the spirit of God, and even the name they give to God, YHWH, in their language sounds little more than a breath. John plays on this secret as he is teaching new disciples how to listen and to obey God. In the verse above he reminds them (and us) that no one has ever seen God. Just as no one has ever seen the wind, neither has anyone ever seen God. However, we know God because we have seen the effects of God. We know that power of God’s love to forgive and to heal. We have seen the effects of God’s love on individuals who were lost and now are found. We have felt the power of God’s love in us as we have been transformed into a new creation.
Where we move from here, is now to let God’s abiding love be perfected in us. And we do so, by sharing it with others. Sometimes we can’t explain God’s love to people. Sometimes they don’t want to listen, sometimes we don’t have the words, but like was said yesterday, love is an action. Love while it may not be able to explained, is best when shown. Love is shown in us as we act out of kindness and compassion. Love is shown as we gather items to send to those in need. Love is shown as we volunteer our time to help someone. Love is seen in offering a hand up out of a hard situation. Love is shown in numerous ways, and Scripture says “love never ends,” or “love never fails.”
In today’s world, showing love is a little different because we are distant from one another, but it doesn’t stop love form being shown. No one has ever seen God, but maybe they have seen God in you as you have shown them the effects of God’s love.
I hope this will encourage you to think about new ways to share God’s love in the days and weeks ahead as we begin to see society look to get out of the house, while still cautiously protecting self and others.
Grace & Peace,
Sam