I must admit that God is boring! Now, don’t be quick to misunderstand me. Let me explain where I’m coming from, and what I mean by that claim.

In early 2000, when my wife and I began the Cairo-chapter of our spiritual journey, the Lord blessed us by accommodating us with two most gracious Christian hosts, David and Julia, who warmly opened their hearts and apartment to us for a number of weeks until we were able to find an apartment to move into. Dave was a top-class professional engineer, employed with an American oil company engaged in the exploration and refinement of crude oil in Egypt.

One day, Dave invited me to travel-out into the desert with him, a one-hour drive from Cairo, to visit one of his company’s field operation units. As we drove through the dry and life-less desert, I thought to myself… What on earth are they doing out here? The ground is barren, dry and dusty… that was my assessment!

I observed the camp to be well structured and equipped with portable offices, a giant oil rig, a large quantity of drilling pipes, electricity generation units, workers dining area… and more. With eyes and mind wide open I asked questions, non-stop, from the time of arriving at the site until the time we arrived back at Cairo. There’s a lot to learn and understand about the oil industry. It’s quite fascinating.

The retrieval process of crude oil at this site began with seismologists conducting electronic tests, ascertaining the presence of oil, deep down, under the surface area of ground that had been leased to the company by the government of Egypt. Seismic instruments make it possible for those above the ground to ‘see’ below the ground the presence of black, liquid gold waiting to be discovered beneath. And, depending of the strength of seismic indication, companies outlay large sums of money to utilize whatever equipment and manpower to bring to the surface the precious black liquid. Upon the retrieval and refinement of the crude oil, large profits can be made by the company.

How do I relate this to my ‘God is boring’ claim? Making a spiritual comparison, the Holy Spirit helps us to ‘see’ the rich potential the Lord has deposited deep within us, no matter how ordinary our surface looks, and with our permission and collaboration He is glad to ‘bore’ as deep within us as is necessary to bring to the surface His rich reserve of spiritual gold – the likeness of Jesus! (Rom. 8:29.)

In Part 2 next week, I will explain in more detail God’s ‘boring’ process.   

Best wishes, 

Bill Joukhadar