Sometimes you get a wake up call . . . those little jabs that remind you of what’s really real. Such was the case this morning as I was reading the continuing debate between Job and his “sort of” friends. The reminder? That despite what I, by the grace of God and illumination of the Spirit, know and understand of God . . . it’s just “the mere edges.”

In Job 26, Job delivers a brilliant and soul stirring summary of the might and majesty of God.

I don’t know exactly how Job knows all this . . . given that he lived in “ancient times” without all the scientific breakthroughs we know today (or are they just repeat breakthroughs?) . . . but there’s some pretty sophisticated understanding of creation’s marvelous structure. Job knows that God stretches the northern sky over a vast empty space . . . and that He hangs the earth on nothing . . . that clouds are filled with water yet do not break under the weight of it . . . that there’s a circular horizon over the water, at the place where light meets darkness (doesn’t sound like Job thought the world was flat). Job recognizes that God stirs up the sea . . . breaks up the storm . . . and dresses up the heavens. (26:7-23) Wow!

“Indeed,” says Job, “these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him!” (26:14)

What we see of God . . . what we understand to be true of God . . . what the Spirit has made known to us concerning the Person and work of God . . . they are but the mere edges . . . the extremities . . . the outskirts . . . the fringes . . . a mere whisper . . . or, to coin a less eloquent phrase, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

What has been revealed is only the tip of the iceberg . . . to think that what I know of God, is to fully know Him, is to not know Him at all. It’s but a taste . . . a teaser of things yet to come . . . far than satisfying my hunger it should inflame a desire for more . . . while the water satisfies the thirst, it should leave such a taste as to want to seek out the Source in all His fullness.

The marvels of Creation . . . the wonders of salvation . . . the on-going work of sanctification . . . all of it should prime the pump of wanting the realities of deeper relation with Him who we have but encountered a whisper of. He, whose power is beyond understanding, is not beyond pursuing.

That I would not be satisfied with just the mere edges . . . that the outskirts would not be enough to satisfy my longing. But that I would wonder at the fringes and seek the fullness. That I would worship at the extremities and press on after the essence.

Praise God for the mere edges . . . I ain’t seen nothin’ yet . . . but, by His grace and through His Spirit, I can’t wait to know more.

Amen?