Elbows & Ears

Elbows & Ears
by Shawn McEvoy

I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.
Exodus 6:6

Be merciful to me and hear my prayer.
Psalm 4:1

Once, when my son was just shy of three, he informed his mother he was drawing a picture of God.

"Oh… What does God look like?" she asked.

"Well, I put some elbows and some ears," he replied, and he went back to his work.

I was told that story when I came home from work. Cute, I thought. Not exactly as awe-inspiring as Ezekiel's vision, but sounds like a weird picture. I mean, where is the face?

"The face of the Lord is not one you could look upon" (Exodus 33:12-23), came the voice inside my head.

Where are the hands and feet?

That's you.

Oh yeah, that's true…

So… elbows and ears, huh?

Well, I guess God does reach us, and move us, and nudge us, and hold up the light to our paths. As Wayne Watson sang, "No one in this world can slip beyond the reaches of the long arm of the Lord."

And I know he hears us. He created us for fellowship. He desires praise and prayer. He's absolutely listening. He can even hear things we don't even know we're saying. As Steven Curtis Chapman sang, "The cross should have been mine, But His love broke through time, And heard my heart's cry."

So in one statement about one drawing by one child, I had digested a complete meditation on the nature of God, who He is and what He does, even what He leaves for us to do. As Casting Crowns sang, "If we are the body... Why aren't His hands healing... Why aren't His feet going?"

Intersecting Faith & Life: Consider today what part of the body you are playing, and what other parts (eyes, mouth, shoulders, etc.) describe what you know about the character of your God.

Further Reading

Matthew 5:8