When an Arab chief was asked how he knew God, he answered, “how do I know when a camel has passed my tent? By the footprints he leaves”. He was saying that just as a camel will leave evidence that he has been there, though unseen, in the same way we can know God because He has left his footprints. Have you ever seen the “footprints” of God? Do you have any evidence that He exists, or has been in your neighborhood, or perhaps even in your life?
How do we know God exists? No one has ever seen him. What evidenced do you have that God has passed your tent in the night?
The story of Abraham, the father of the entire Jewish nation has always intrigued me. The history of this man begins in Genesis 12. Here is what it says; “The Lord said to Abram…”. I ponder that statement because I am not sure that Abram had ever seen any camel tracks out his tent flap. The culture he was raised in was the “Chaldean” culture. This people group became famous for their understanding of the heavens. It is thought that the Zodiac was developed by these people who spent their lives under the stars. It is this culture that he was raised in. So, how does Abram hear the message to leave his kindred and his country and travel to a destination he did not know?
“So, Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him…”.
Moses struggled with this same issue. Moses was the man God had chosen to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt. Moses was overcome with the responsibility. He says to God, “You have said to me ‘bring up this people’! But thou hast not let me know whom Thou will send with me. Moreover, you have said, ‘I have known you by Name and that I have found favor in Thy sight”. (Exodus 33:12) The problem Moses had was that he felt alone and deserted, and he had never seen God. Moses asks God to “show me your Presence”. He wanted to see this God that had given him this great responsibility. God amazingly replies to Moses by saying no one has ever seen me and lived! In other words, you cannot see Me. God made a concession with Moses and said “you stand near me on this rock. As My glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove My hand and let you see me from behind. But My face will not be seen”. (Exodus 33:21-23) That was enough for Moses, and enough for Abram. God, though unseen, gave them the assurance of His presence. They had seen the footprints and were assured.
I find it interesting that we serve a God that no one has ever seen. God Himself said to Moses that no one could look at His face and live. I realize that Jesus came as the exact duplication of God. Hebrews 1:3 says of Jesus, “He (Jesus) is the radiance of His (God’s) glory and the exact representation of His nature…”. But is God Himself ever described anywhere? Listen to Isaiah; “To whom do you liken God? Or what likeness will you give to Him?…It is He who sits above the vault of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spread them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces the rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, scarcely has their stock taken place on the earth, then He merely blows on them and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble. To whom will you liken me that I should be equal” says the Holy One.”? (Isaiah 40”21-25)
There is one other place where God is observed. John says; “Immediately I was in the Spirit and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and one was sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance….and from the throne proceed flashes of lightning, and sounds, and peals of thunder…and before the throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass like crystal; and in the center and around the throne were heavenly beings…”. [Revelation 4:2-6]
This God, though unseen by human eyes, has left His footprint outside my tent flap. I see His tracks when I look up into the heavens. One thing that is eternally etched in my mind is the starry heavens as I looked out into the midnight sky from my lookout tower as a fire observer when I was young. The Psalmist says in Psalm 19, “The heavens are telling the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands”. I look at the ruggedness and yet intricate cellular construction of the human body and I see His footprints. In times of worship, I am caught up into another dimension where my human spirit reaches out and communes with an eternal God. To attempt to convince me that there is no Eternal God is like trying to convince me that the sun rotates around the earth and not the earth rotating around the sun. Once you have come to know and communicate with this God, life takes on a different dimension. I have seen His footprints and He has left abundant evidence that He has passed my tent.
The marvel of it all is that this eternal and Majestic God, wants me! Many years ago, I came in possession of a poem called “The Hound Of Heaven”. It is the story of Frances Thompson. He lived in historical London and became addicted to opium. He was living a hopeless life when he saw the footprints outside his tent. The poem is much too long to quote here but just a part of it shows me how this eternal God searches for us.
“I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind and in the midst of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter
Up vistaed slopes I sped
Down titanic glooms and chasmed fears, I fled
From those strong feet that followed…..
All which I took from thee I did not take,
Not for thy harms,
But that thou might’st seek it in my arms…
Rise, clasp my hand and come!
Halts by me that footfall.
Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest, I am He whom thou sleekest”.
Look outside you tent flap and see His tracks. He has followed you!
