The LORD God Almighty

Sometimes I forget who God is. That sounds ridiculous, right? How could I forget the one whom everyday I speak to and read about and talk about and work for? But I do. It's rather easy, honestly. See, my mind is small and my understanding is so very little. I can't grasp the fullness of God no matter how hard I try. So oftentimes, I make Him small, just like my mind.
But He's not.

I've been reading through the Old Testament lately, looking at the stories I grew up on and looking for truths I've never noticed. It took me the entire book of Genesis and the first few chapters of Exodus before I realized something: I've never fully understood the purpose of the Bible.

I've appreciated the Bible in a lot of ways. I've loved the stories. I've striven to follow its instruction. I've soaked in its expression of God's love and cried along with the psalmists who try to express love in return. But this past week, I realized it is something more than that. It isn't just the explanation of my faith or the stories of those who have gone before me. It's the story of God.

He's the main character of the book. He's in the first sentence and the last and every sentence in between. Each chapter, each section, shows another piece of Who He is. I know His character because it's embedded in every page. When I question or wonder or struggle, I can return to His Word and find truth, not in the stories or the proverbs or the instructions, but in Him.

As I recently read the story of Moses, I noticed how God introduces Himself, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exodus 3:6). Remember, 
He says. Remember the stories of your ancestors. I am the same God. 

The same God.

That's what I far too often forget. He isn't simply my friend or my father or my comfort or my teacher. He is the same God who spoke light into being. The same God who breathed life into dust and so loved it that He gave everything to know it personally. This God I serve is the same God who erased the nastiness of unrepentant sin from earth in the flood and the same God who graciously gave us a sign that He would never do that again.

Far too often, when I think of these stories I picture God as a kindly old grandfather with an interesting past. But He's not. He's still the same God. He's still the mighty creator, and zealous warrior, and loving father, and all-knowing teacher that I read about in this ancient text.

Every day, I look at and love the beautiful mountains of the Black Hills, and every time I see them, I can't help but think of Amos 4:13. And recently, every time I think of it, I remember just exactly Who I serve. I probably look like a crazy person, constantly smiling out my window, remembering Who my God is.

He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth -
the LORD God Almighty is his name.