When artists paint pictures of landscapes, be they hillside landscapes, English gardens, countryside barnyards, or stormy oceans, brush strokes skillfully recreate what has captured their eyes. Once put on display, the admirers of those masterpieces see what the artist has seen—a delightfully colorful garden, a charming barnyard, or the intensity of the ocean storm. Yet should they make a closer, magnified inspection of those pictures, they would never find the actual contents that collectively inspired those painted scenes. They’d not see the individual leaves with their veins on those hillside oak trees, or each chicken feather’s hallow shaft with its numerous hairs causing those barnyard chickens to appear larger than they really were. Even with magnified brushstrokes the beholder would never see the ladybugs crawling on the lupines growing across the mountainside, or the krill riding in those stormy waves.  

Isn’t it the same with you and I when trying to grasp just who our God is? The Bible has 66 books, each painting different scenes that portray our God. The epoch stories, the dialogues between God and His people, the appearance of His Son and the life Jesus lived on earth all serve to introduce mankind to his maker. But as with any introduction, they simply serve as the beginning of our knowing Him.

And then there are His names. God has many names in the Bible that help us know who He is. One website, christiananswers.net, has an article which says that the Bible contains a total of 952 names and titles of God! Personally, I think that 952 names is amazing, but I’m pretty sure that once we are in Heaven with the One who owns those names, we will say that altogether those 952 names made up a mere drop in the universe-sized bucket of Who He truly is! My experience has been that the more I get to know Him, the more I realize each of His names and titles serves as a sketched outline defining a picture yet to be painted. We know what the picture will be, but it takes time for God to add color to that sketch in our hearts as He reveals Himself to us as the One whom that name describes. I’ve known one of His names is El Roi, the God who sees. (See Genesis 16:13) But when I heard His whisper, “I’ve called you by name”, I experienced first hand God seeing me, knowing me. Now El Roi isn’t a sketched outline. It is vibrant with the colors that relationship has painted there.

When I ponder all of this, I think about when Moses asked God “Who shall I say sent me?” Exodus 3:13-14 “Moses said to God, “If I go to the Israelites and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ – what should I say to them?” God said to Moses,  “…You must say this to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

God had 952 names to choose from, but I believe He picked the best, because it covers them all. He answered, “Tell them “I AM” sent you! 

Father God, thankfully we have all of eternity to explore the wonders of who you are, and surely it will take that long to know the intricacies of Your character, Your power, and Your heart. I can just hear You saying when I meet you face to face, “Take all the time you need!” What a delightful journey to look forward to! I AM is the perfect name for You. In response, I want to humbly, reverently, and lovingly acknowledge that, “Yes Lord, YOU ARE!” How I love you!