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Devotional: Week one, day one - String Theory

I know I know, Wednesday is a strange day to start a weekly committment, but I figured today was as good a time as any.  If I keep waiting for a Sunday or Monday I'm afraid I'll put this off indefinitely.

 

Today's title was "A Christian Theory of Everything" which admittedly sounds more like a Science day reading than a Theology one.  But these two pages had very little to do with string theory other than to use it as an example, a jumping off point for Sam Storms, today's author.  He believes that no one has taken any theory of everything far enough because they haven't acknowledged God as the theory's architect and executor. Dr. Storms puts a lot of emphasis on God's rejoicing in God's self and that is what we were both created out of and created to participate in.  He goes through a paragraph about this;

"God delights infinitely in his own eternal beauty," "God is his own fan club!"

If you ask me, this makes God sound like an over-inflated frat boy or Gaston from Disney's Beauty and the Beast; I would envision God continually preening in a mirror and expecting the rest of us oh and ah appropriately.  I don't know about you, Dr. Storms, but that is definitely not my kind of God.  But the next paragraph started with a sentence I was rather struck by:

"God doesn't simply think about himself or talk to himself. He enjoys himself."

(Yes, alright, that's technicaly two sentences)

Now perhaps to some of you this sounds like more of the same, but for me it touched on a struggle I (and I think everyone, honestly) am going through: the difference between false pride and actually enjoying yourself.  Certainly this is a major factor in my rollercoaster relationship with weight loss.  When I don't pay attention to how I take care of myself I can become unhealthy, lethargic, short-tempered but I have a relatively positive self image.  I like myself, and the occasional aforementioned hiccups, I feel good.  Guilty, but good.  When I'm eating healthy and working out, it means I am admitting to myself that there are flaws, that I'm not perfect and that is what spawns the daily crying in the shower, the lack of self confidence, and most disturbingly the self hatred.

I know God is perfect, so there are a lot less of these issues to deal with there, but I am inspired by the fact that my God can enjoy God.  Why?  Because I am created in God's image.  That means I too can learn not only to enjoy and rejoice in God but to enjoy and rejoice in myself.

God loves me, and God doesn't make mistakes.