What is God like? We spend much of our Christian life searching to answer this question. We have sought to discover Him in what we read about Him, in what others say, and in the experiences that have shaped our lives. We hear words meant to describe Him, beautiful words like… holy, powerful, merciful, gracious, loving, omnipresent, creator, and father. We tend to apply what our lives have taught us about such words, then give them a slightly loftier meaning and attach them to our image of God. In God however, these meanings are altogether different than anything we have ever known. For example, God’s love is not a higher version of my love for my wife; it is wholly different. We must accept that God’s nature is far outside the realm of our own understanding, and our attempt at making Him fit our definitions simply creates a god of our own imagination.The tragedy is that we have become more comfortable with the gods we have created! Although it is only a broken picture of a god, at least we know what to expect. If we let go of the safety of the god of our imagination and accept that He is beyond our ability to comprehend, how then can we know what He is like? How do we trust that He is safe? So, in an attempt to hide from the fear of Him we create a god we can control. We pray to this image of the god we have created and wait for it to respond and confirm what we have believed about him. However, God in His grace withholds the answer we expect and seeks instead to reveal the truth of who He is… it is only in finding Him in truth that we are set free. [John 8:32]
When we begin to allow God to be just who He is, we will be confronted by His vastness, His holiness, His limitless power, and the infinite nature of His being. Our hearts will tell us to fear that which we can’t control; we will be tempted to return to our created god for we think him safer. However, we must resist, for when we come before Him just as He is we will encounter a love that only infinite perfection allows. We will be compelled to walk in the grace that only His limitless goodness and all sufficiency make possible. Our heart will begin to find rest in the unchanging nature of God. We will soar with the confidence of knowing He will not change His attitude towards us. When we let go of the image of our created god we open the door to the place where the limitless power of God meets His tender mercies, were His justice meets the cross of Christ and where His unfathomable wisdom meets the heart of the Father. When we cease trying to make God understandable and allow Him to draw our fearful hearts towards his Majesty, we will soon discover that the very traits which had compelled us to fear will become the source of our strength and everlasting joy! As the truth of God penetrates our heart, faith is born. It will no longer be a faith based in our own merit or goodness, but rather a faith grounded in the confidence of beginning to know something of what God is really like!
“The greatness of God rouses fear within us, but His goodness encourages us not to be afraid of Him. To fear and not be afraid –that is the paradox of faith.” – A.W. Tozer
