What is this?

'What is this?'

A question I've been asking a lot lately.

A question we're not really used to anymore. It betrays a lack of familiarity; a lack of understanding. It is a question that leaves no room for pretending that we are all-knowing.

'What is this?'

An inquiry as to the very substance, nature and purpose of a thing unknown.

'What is this?'

In confusion, in wonder; confounded, dumbstruck, bewildered... So used to anticipating every detail, to never being amazed, to never being at a loss for mental clarity... And suddenly we are utterly undone.

'God, what is this?'

What is this situation? What is this journey? What is this that You would require of me in this moment? I am unfamiliar with this, I haven't seen this before. What is this?

There is something unnerving about uncharted waters: a trembling as we approach the precipice, trepidation as we near the unknown.

We have been asking for expansion, for increase, for forward movement. We've longed for a shift, a change, an advancement, a way out of the stalemate we've been in with our circumstances. Deeper depths, higher heights, greater realms in God.

We got what we wanted.

But the problem is that anything new, fresh, greater, deeper is, by necessity, outside the realm of our current experience.

We've approached the edge of our own understanding and with a loathing glance back at the mundane, we turned our eyes heavenward and whispered 'forward'.

But as we stand gazing out at the hazy horizon of the unfamiliar... At all the wonder and terror of a grim sea split as easily as a veil, looming on either side of the path we must walk... At a pillar of fire, burning furiously from the dust of a seemingly endless desert to the vast black sky stretched above it... At the terrible and majestic power of Almighty God, smiling slyly as He opens up the new we've been begging for and foolishly believing we were more than ready for...

With dazzled eyes, we stand awestruck and now whisper heavenward (and with far more humility this time): 'God, what is this?'

Courage brothers, for we are soon to know.