Managers of the Mysteries of God
By Deidre Braley
Bible Reading:
A person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God. – 1 Corinthians 4:1
This morning, as I sat in the darkness of dawn before anyone else arose, the railroad that runs across from our house began to rumble and—though still a way off—I heard a train blow its low, eerie sound, cutting through the black morning like a single loon calling across a midnight lake.
And there in the darkness, in response to that call, I felt a longing emerge. The child in me wanted to run right out in my stocking feet and grab a hold of one of the train’s cold iron sides and allow it to take me in, to whisk me away. I had an almost unbearable urge to surrender to the adventure—and maybe even experience a dose of magic along the way.
But the dog was sitting warm in my lap, and the oven had twelve minutes to go on a dish of baked oatmeal. The children would be up soon, and they’d be wanting their mother; who else could know where their favorite t-shirts would be hiding?
As adults, I fear that so many of us begin to believe that enchantment and adventure are naiveties, luxurious little flippancies that we can no longer afford, given the sobering stack of responsibilities that comes with being a grown-up. We can’t possibly give in to wonder and mystery with so many dishes still in the sink (and so many bills on the counter)!
But belief in the Living God is a supernatural one in itself: for those of us who believe in such miracles as the resurrected Son and a Holy Spirit who inhabits us so we can dwell with God in the shower, or the traffic jam, or that insufferable meeting after work, well—we can fall headlong into adventure and wonder whenever we please.
And we must. Our spirits leap at the prospect of magical fantasy worlds because we were made for them: Eden. Heaven. Zion. We are attuned and attracted to the otherworldly because we catch a whiff of home there. But so many people have grown up and moved on, thinking that these impulses to chase the unknown are childish, silly, and pointless. As followers of Christ, we have the phenomenal opportunity to point others toward eternity, to grab them by their hands and say, “Come, I have something to show you, and it’s nearly too wonderful to believe. It’s better than what you’ve ever dreamed.”
The apostle Paul wrote, “A person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1). This is a marvelous job description, and a
delightful one. It should make our inner children perk up their ears and say, “Well, this should be fun!”
Intersecting Faith & Life:
Perhaps one of the greatest indicators of our intimacy with Christ is not how well we behave or even how well we can quote Scripture (those these both have value), but rather how attuned we are to the mysteries of God—and how open-handedly we share these with others.
Today, spend a little time getting in touch with your sense of wonder, delight, mystery, and adventure. It’s not childish—it’s your natural inclination to tilt towards God. A posture of awe allows for us to experience connection with God in more intimate ways, because awe leads to worship.
Then, share that awe with someone else. Invite them into the mystery. Help them indulge their inner desire for something beyond this flesh-and-blood world. What fun and joyful work.
Further Reading:
For reading that will inspire you to re-engage with your sense of wonder, I highly recommend these books:
Recapturing the Wonder: Transcendent Faith in a Disenchanted World by Mike Cosper
Miracle on 10th St. and Other Christmas Writings by Madeline L’Engle
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/happyphoton
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