Measurable Evidence

 

"What gets measured gets attention.” The first time I read that phrase it was on a six-inch ruler at a Kiewit job site. Each of our immediate family worked for Kiewit at one time or another - even I had a temporary position. I wanted to use that quote with another, from BigThink.com:

But extrapolating beyond the limits of your measurable evidence is a dangerous, albeit tempting, game to play.

My next thought was to find the source for the Kiewit quote - which brought me to a page about Lord William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, who actually said:

When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be.

Measuring is a valid business process.  It is an asset to be able to measure. Measuring evidence is a key phrase, I used it myself when testing software. But what happens when something is immeasurable?

From Job 38:4, God gives Job a mass of unanswerable questions, beginning with:

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. (Job 38:4 KJV)

The next verses, then chapters, show us how immeasurable God is. The answer Job gives is what I also believe:

Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. (Job 42:1-2 KJV)

We see our God as omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, as well as being eternal. He cares for His creation (check out John 3:16!) and provides:

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 KJV)

God also takes care of those who follow His instructions:

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (2 Corinthians 9:6-8 KJV)

Christians cannot measure God. As the Big Think quote said, we should not extrapolate when explaining what we believe He is. The Bible describes God and His dealings with mankind. Our belief in Him comes only from His word and how He works in our lives. We love Him based on faith, which comes from:

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17 KJV)

Christians also know what happens without faith:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 KJV)

Faith is mentioned twice in the Old Testament – Deuteronomy 32:20 and Habakkuk 2:4. Worth reading, then read Hebrews 11 and see how faith plus work can show measurable evidence of our faith in God. Or Esther, where God’s name isn’t mentioned, nor is praying to Him, yet through Esther’s faith He provided “enlargement and deliverance”for the Jewish people.

Although God is immeasurable, is there visible evidence of our faith in Him? James felt very strongly about that:

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:17-20 KJV)

This blog exists to continue what John wrote:

But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:31 KJV)

Mountains and Valleys

 

I looked for a graphic that would show a valley, not just a mountain, because life brings us valleys as well as mountain top experiences. For a Christian, a mountain top experience doesn’t have to be anywhere near a mountain. I’ve had, and seen others have, such experiences on an ocean cruise with only the sea from a 360 degree horizon.

For a Christian, a mountain top experience is a closeness to God, Word@Work defines it as:

This expression has originated from the Bible because of the dealings God had with His people on various “mountain-tops”. So the phrase has come to mean a moment of transcendence – or epiphany; and in particular an experience of significant revelation given by God.

Monday night last week, at our Ladies Meeting, our speaker was Tina Pugh, our pastor’s wife. She presented a number of biblical mountain top experiences. As another attendee put it: “For mountain top experiences you must plan and use considerable resources and have faith. God makes it worth the effort when it is to His glory.”

The opposite experiences are termed “valleys,” where we experience a significant distance from God. King David was described as being a man after God’s own heart when the kingdom was taken away from Saul:

And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee. (1 Samuel 13:13-14 KJV)

Saul’s indictment was specific – he had not kept God’s commandment to Saul, thus Saul lost the kingdom. David would make errors that kept him from building the Temple – that was left to his son Solomon. David also knew about the valleys that come to us, the opposite of “mountain top experiences.’ Those times when we are certain we are alone. Trust God, we are not alone.

When Elijah felt alone he said:

and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. (1 Kings 19:14b KJV)

God responded:

Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
(1 Kings 19:18 KJV)

David, when confronting his own sinfulness wrote:

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. (Psalms 51:2-4 KJV)

He also wrote about God keeping us through the valleys, whether they are of the world’s making – as Elijah, or of our own – as David:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalms 23:4 KJV)

Yes, God is with us in the valleys of our lives – when we listen to Him. Today we “see” Him as the Holy Spirit, the Comforter sent to His followers.

It is possible that many of our own valleys remain because we do not see God leading us back to those mountain top experiences. He does it through the Comforter Jesus prayed for:

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
(John 14:16-17 KJV)

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
(John 14:26 KJV)

The Comforter’s presence with us in the valley allows us the strength to continue towards those lifting mountain tops where we do remember our place in God’s plan. If we’ve forgotten that God has a plan for us, the Comforter will “bring all things to your remembrance.” Easiest way for us to know what Jesus said is to read the Bible, isn’t it?