How do you see God? You know, in your “minds-eye” -- when you fail at the same sin for the hundredth time, or when you realize you’ve forgotten your devotions again -- what’s the default perception you have of Him? The most common view of God, regardless of whether or not a person is a Christian, seems to be that of an angry, club-carrying dictator who lives only to squelch fun and point out errors with the help of lightning bolts… This God is a disappointed God. He’s frustrated and is probably constantly ashamed of us and we wouldn’t doubt that He might use sickness or hard times to punish us for our many, many mistakes. Those who carry around this view of God, even subconsciously, tend to do one of two things:
1) They eventually become bitter and angry at God for being so unfair and unreasonable in His many expectations – and they end up giving up on Christianity and the Church --
2) Or -- they continue to blame themselves for being such screw-ups and determine to just “try harder” to please God and “do the right thing” the next time around.
Unfortunately, neither outcome leads to a powerful Christian life -- but only to misery. The truth is, how we perceive God can’t help but affect how we approach God in prayer and in relationship. Who wants to regularly spend time alone with a powerful, angry, club-bearing “boss” with impossible standards? Until you see God as being so invested in our world and in YOU that He risked everything to help us – until that is your foundational view of God, that He first loved us (our love for Him isn’t the measure of our worth!) -- you will miss out on all the transparency, depth, richness and power of a relationship that He wants, and you need. He can’t wait to hear from you today!
Surrounded By Grace,
Josh
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