God of My Life (El Chaiyai)

"At night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life.

By day the Lord directs his love." (Psalm 42:8, NIV)

If you’ve had a loved one die, whether in human or furry form, you know the pain of grief, and you’ve also brushed up against the great mystery of life. What is this immaterial essence or spirit that animates us? Where did it come from? And where does it go when we’re gone?

The Bible tells us. God, in creating humanity, did much more than bringing together assorted body parts, tissues, and organs. He did do that, but Genesis 2:7 says that He took that lifeless creature and "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” From the opening pages of Scripture, we see that God is the source and giver of life.

And God doesn’t just animate us physically; He also desires to see us come alive spiritually. He wants, by His grace and through our faith, to give us eternal life (i.e., a life that consists of knowing Him through Jesus Christ, see John 17:3). Jesus insisted He came to offer His followers "life abundantly" (John 10:10). The idea should evoke imagery of a life impossibly full, incredibly rich, and sloshing over with blessing.

This is not to say that a life in God or a life with God is easy and trouble-free—far from it. We live in a broken world full of broken people. We face hardships and endure suffering. Many of the psalms—not just Psalm 42—suggest this. One day God will make everything right, but in the meanwhile, we will experience trouble and tears. And so we must make the choice to live in God’s presence and to rely on His promises.

The New Testament expands on this idea. We serve a God—more importantly, we are loved by a Savior—who not only sustains our lives, but, as the apostle Paul asserted, “is our life . . . ” (Colossians 3:4).

This is the life of faith. Clinging to Christ as if He is our oxygen—our invisible, but indispensable source of life. Seeing Christ as our life is recognizing our need for Him every moment and depending on Him at every turn. And it is not a life of fear-filled desperation but a life of loving devotion.

This faith focus on Jesus won’t make our problems disappear, but it will put them in perspective. Our God is the source and sustainer of life . . . and not just a “get by” life, but the life we really want.

The life God offers us is—in quantity and quality—beyond our wildest dreams.

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The above article is adapted from 100 Names of God, which will be released in the winter of 2015. Pre order your signed copy.