Praising God and over-egging it

I have been reflecting a lot recently on how so much of the Bible and Christian language is full of declarations concerning God’s and Christ’s love, that he is worthy, that he is the great protector, full of grace and mercy, all-powerful, on a throne, King of kings, all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, and so on. Then an obvious thought occurred to me that, surely, seen from the outside, this looks like protesting too much – that we are over-egging it, and so in our praising God this way, we are really trying to convince ourselves of our case for God, when deep down we are unsure of it all. I realise now that, despite its unpromising appearance, there is a profound truth in this reaction and accusation, insofar as God is hidden, is often difficult/impossible to work-out, and fully understand, and that life as a result can often feel hard and tough, and that we often feel abandoned (also see Romans 11:33-34; Psalm 10:1; Psalm 30:7, and my post 18^th January ‘God often seems to play hide-and-seek’). The good news, though, is that there is enough wriggle room for faith to develop as we repeatedly choose to believe in an all-powerful loving God, whatever happens. But, in the process, I think it would be healthier, and more honest of us, to acknowledge that these praise-filled declarations can indeed feel over-egged, albeit we choose to praise otherwise, and that both our feelings and our choices are a necessary part of our journey. 

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