The Shack

The Shack by William P. Young
Read it. It is a novel based on a "true story." You'll see what I mean.

Willie Young is a faithful and loyal friend of the man about whom the story is written. Young's friend Mack experiences tragedy and God lovingly and frighteningly confronts him. At first I was skeptical, but began to realize that even though the story is unconventional, I fell more in love with GOD than I have ever been.

He is a trinity of full humanity and full deity. He is all roles: He is Mother - with lullabyes, with advice, He is Friend - with stargazing eyes and listening ears, He is Father - with strength and wisdom, He is Creator - both with gardening tools and by forming from thin air. He is Grandmother - with cookies and milk, He is King - with rule and judgement and authority, and he is Servant - with His Death and His Grace and His Love.

And even when I try to put Him in the boxes above, He bursts out of them with great fervency for me to seek Him and know Him even more. If you have ever wondered how a huge powerful God could also be a Friend, you must read this book. If you have ever found yourself usually thinking of God as only one role, this will change your heart. I believe in Mack's story. Even if it didn't happen anywhere this side of heaven, I believe that the God I got to know in this book was more real to me than I have ever experienced Him to be.

And now I want more of him than I have ever wanted. Thank you, Jesus.

Compare the following scriptures and as you read, begin to see the many-faceted, fully engaged, overwhelmingly undescribable God that we sometimes try to put in a box. Ask yourself, Who is God in this passage? Prayerfully ask him to show you the parts of him you have never seen before.

Psalm 50:1-6
Luke 7:36-50
Isaiah 6:1-4
Gen 1: 27-31
Acts 2:1-4,17-18