Unity

I cannot believe we are approaching the end of this series. There are only four letters left. I told you at the beginning we would not go in order. We started with the fourth letter, the Daleth ד, and have gone straight through to the twenty-first. Now we will go back to the beginning. We will do the first three, the Alef א, the Bet ב, and the Gimel ג, and then finish in three weeks with the final letter, the Tav. I pray God has drawn you closer to Himself through this series and that you will find unity with Him as you read today’s post.

Silence

Soon after Sam and I got married, I had the joy of meeting with a spiritual director. A spiritual director is much like a discipleship relationship. She walked along my spiritual path with me and helped me to see God in my everyday life. Meeting with this woman helped me go to a whole new level in my walk with the Lord. She helped me take my focus off me and place it on God, where it needed to be.

One day, she invited me to meet her at a convent. She waited till after I agreed to tell me it was a silent convent. There were many rooms and outdoor paths to explore. Each room had a different theme. Some had art supplies, some had listening stations to listen to music, some rooms just had pillows on the floor for kneeling. Each room was to help you hear from the Lord in various ways.

She asked me to walk the grounds, or go into one of the rooms, and just see where the Lord would lead. I would then meet with her for lunch and then we would go elsewhere to talk about what God had shown me.

The first two hours were hard. I wandered from room to room, trying to find a place to land. I felt awkward walking by people and not saying something. It was especially hard to sit at a table for lunch and not say a word. It was hard, but do you know what you notice when you stop talking? A lot!

In the day’s silence, I cannot say I heard anything, but what the Lord showed me was beautiful. Just like I mentioned with the Daleth ד, God was inviting me into the spiritual to see what He wanted me to see.

One To Infinity

Going back to the beginning, we get to look at the first letter, the Alef א. It has the value of one. Sometimes, it can have the value of 1,000, and in other instances, it is immeasurable. Right from the start, we get the picture of how big God is. He is the One, but He is also immeasurable. We can never grasp the magnitude of the mighty God we serve. I remember as a kid looking into the night sky to find the big dipper and my dad telling me there was no end to the universe. My human mind then, and now, struggles to understand infinity. This awestruck feeling is only a tiny glimpse of His vastness.

A Picture Of The Trinity

The Alef א, like the Shin ש, that we looked at last week, comprises three different letters. These three letters, combined into one, gives us the first look at the Trinity. From the very beginning, the first language we know of shares with us a picture of our Triune God.

God Reaches Down

Two Yods י and a Vav ו make up the Alef א. The Yods י represent two hands, and more in particular, the hands of God. One hand reaches down, which represents God reaching down into the dust of the Earth to form us.

“By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”

Genesis 3:19 NLT

The Alef is a picture of God extending His hand down, reaching into the dirt, and forming man into His own image. For those of you that are like me and are visual, can you picture this? I see His almighty hands slowly and meticulously forming us. His hands that are all powerful that can calm storms and raise the dead, carefully and wonderfully knit us together to be the perfection of His creation.

"His hands that are all powerful that can calm storms and raise the dead, carefully and wonderfully knit us together to be the perfection of His creation." Click To Tweet

Reaching Heavenward

The other hand reaches up. Just like the Lamed ל and the Shin ש, this reminds us to always look up and to keep reaching for Heaven. Looking up reminds us of who He is and ignites a fire for us to need to worship Him and share His love with others.

As if this was not good enough, hold tight. It gets even better.

Connecting Man To God

If you look between the two Yods י, the hands, you see the Vav ו. The Vav ו is the line connecting the hands. This line represents connecting man to God. There is only One that can do this… Jesus.

When I first read the Alef א was a picture of two hands, the first image to come into my mind were the two hands of Christ nailed to the cross. I see His body as the Vav ו and His hands as the Yods י. I see His body hanging there, torn and bruised, for my sin. He came so that through His death I might have life and freedom. He did this for me and He did this for each of you.

Jesus came to live as a man and die for our sins so that we can receive salvation. Through His death and resurrection, our sins are washed away, allowing us to have unity with God.

"Jesus came to live as a man and die for our sins so that we can receive salvation. Through His death and resurrection, our sins are washed away, allowing us to have unity with God." Click To Tweet

Unity With God

The Alef א teaches us to be in unity with God. Only through Jesus can we have this unity. When we are unified, we can be with God with no agenda, just enjoying His presence. We do not have to speak. He knows are hearts and our true intentions. We can come and listen. This may be outside on a walk, at a silent convent, a hike in the mountains, or while lying in bed. We can be anywhere and experience God’s presence and power.

Looking Forward

This week, let’s take some time to thank God for who He is and for sending Jesus so we could have this beautiful unity with Him. Take some time to be silent and listen for what He may have to say. This can be as simple as just turning the radio off on the way home from work. Take the time to be with Him and recharge. Take out the ear buds when you go on a walk, or at night put down the phone and have some quiet time with Him. I would love to hear about what He shows you are the spiritual places He invites you.

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Thank you for sharing