WHAT IS YOUR GOD VIEW?

(When my daughter Anika and I are getting along great, she calls me her “Daddy-O”. I love it because it says, “I love you” to me.)

I've had the privilege of leading a small group of High School guys in the study of God's Word. Lately we've been thinking about how we view God. AW Tozer said, "What comes to mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

What is my God view? Grumpy ol’ man or my Daddy-O?

I hate to admit it, but from time to time I live like God is not actively involved in my life… Maybe you know what I’m talking about; when life get’s so busy and out of balance that our connection with God becomes distant at best?

It’s almost like I can convince myself that if I’m not thinking about God, then he won’t be thinking about me.

Fortunately, I don’t have the capacity to ignore God for too long. And so it happens that whenever I start to feel overwhelmed with the weight of my sin and poor choices, I suddenly become very aware of God’s presence in my life.

Unfortunately however, when I get to this point I usually feel so guilty that I struggle to turn to God for help. “After all,” I wonder, “how could God possibly want anything to do with me when I haven’t really wanted much to do with Him?”

And on top of the guilt, there is also fear… I mean, the Bible is pretty clear about God’s disdain for sin and rebellion...

So even as I comprehend the hopelessness of my situation, the sudden realization of God presence doesn’t bring me comfort, but rather, it only adds to my anxiety. Can you relate?

My response to the presence of God in these times reveals a lot about my true God View.

The truth is, I tend to view God as angry, very angry… You know, kind of like that grumpy ol’ man who yells at the neighborhood kids for being too loud or threatens their life when they have the audacity to step on his grass…

But the Bible reveals a different view of God, one of a loving father.

Check this out:

8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever.

10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.

11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

13 The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

14 For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.

(Psalms 103:8-14 NLT emphasis added)

Honestly, I rarely think of God as a loving father. It’s easy for me to believe that God may be upset or disappointed with me when I’ve lost my way, but difficult for me to see Him embracing me and showing me the kid of compassion and mercy that can only be found in the arms of a loving parent.

That’s the picture Jesus painted in the parable of the prodigal son. The image of God as the perfect Dad, running to his lost son – arms wide open – He still loves me. He’ll always love me.

I’m not talking about God being a pushover. He’s still God. He’s not stupid or naive. I can’t fool Him, he knows my innermost thoughts, but this is good news, because he also knows my regret and my sorrow for my actions.

And this is why fear (as we understand it) is such an inappropriate response to God’s presence in the life of a believer.

As a Dad, I would never want to condemn my kids for their disobedience – sure sometimes I punish them or correct them, but only because I want them to grasp the consequences of their behavior so that they will abandon their rebellion.

Sometimes however, just their regret or remorse is punishment enough. And sometimes the consequences ARE the punishment. In these instances I try to show them grace and mercy and above all else LOVE.

The bad news (for them and for me) is that I’m not the perfect Dad. I mean, no one has ever accused me of being incredibly patient or slow to anger. Sometimes I just get it wrong. And in fact, sometimes I’m merciful when I should be firm. Again I’m not perfect…

But God IS perfect. He’s ALWAYS just, ALWAYS patient, ALWAYS slow to anger, ALWAYS abounding in love, and ALWAYS faithful to me.

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” (Jer. 31.3 NIV)

When I have this correct view of God, as my perfect father – who loves me unconditionally – I in turn want to live a life that makes Him proud. I want to hear Him say “Good Job!” I want to show Him how much I love Him, because He’s my Daddy-O!