But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” ~ Exodus 3:13-14
"I am Who I Am" also sometimes is translated to "I Will Be Who I will Be."
In Hebrew, the words are "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh," which in English, we write out to be "YHWH" or more commonly "Yahweh."
Say those words softly softly aloud: "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" or "Y H W H." Could you feel your breath as you said them?
God is I AM.
It's as if God is our very breath.
We often get tangled up in knots with naming God.
Is God a king on a throne?
Is God a Good Shepherd?
Is God male or female?
Is God father?
Is God the ground of all being?
Is God in the very atoms that hold life together?
What does God say?
God says: "I Am what I am."
"I will be what I will be."
And we are limited by language that can never properly express who God is. We can only trust and have faith in God's nature and God's activity and God's love and God's justice.
Can we let God be God and trust in that which we can never properly or fully name?
God, Lord, King, Yahweh, Elohim, Ground of Being, Father, Mother, Creator, you who are more than I can ever envision: Spark my imagination so that even if I can not properly see you, I may know you. Amen.