Before I grew to know Him, my perception of God was that He would float on a glory cloud, waiting for me to do wrong so He could hit me with a giant leather belt. I envisioned Him that way every time terrible things happened in my life. I just knew Glory Cloud God was punishing me for my sinful behavior.
Naturally, those terrible things could not have happened because I had done something stupid, right? Which then led to a string of cause-and-effect incidents, which led to something bad, right? Surely my mess had nothing to do with me acting inappropriately or like a goofball! Surely that couldn’t be it, could it? Of course, it was! My setbacks were not God’s punishment, not even close! Many, not all, but most of those terrible things were happening because of my foolish actions, not because God felt I needed to be punished.
In fact, the Bible tells us that God is not a judgmental, punishing God; on the contrary:
For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.
— 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NLT)
God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
— John 3:17 (NLT)
While I lived a blatantly sloppy, sinful life and experienced the obvious horrible outcomes (remember, due to me acting ridiculous), I thought my demises were God-induced, that punitive God was giving me what I deserved. I never once considered that anything bad in my life was due to my personal and oh-too-close relationship with the devil. Do you know that the devil’s full-time job is to steal, kill, and destroy everything good in your life, including you?
The thief ’s [satan] purpose is to steal and kill and destroy… — John 10:10 (NLT)
And the devil was running my life. Nothing pleased him more than whenever I hit a new, all-time low. And let’s discuss “all-time lows” for a moment. All-time lows are not reached overnight. You do not go from zero to one hundred in one day. You start at a level of “never going to cross that line,” then manage to cross it after you convince yourself that it is okay. Then you draw another line that you are “definitely never” going to cross, but somehow, crossing that line was easier than crossing the first. It may have even seemed justified. Then you promise not to cross the next line either but manage to jump over that hurdle as well. Because that’s how an all-time low works, isn’t it? You eventually become okay with the limits you set for yourself, then keep extending those limits further out. Until one day, you realize you do not have a limit after all. By the time you accept that realization, you have also accepted the tragically destructive level of your new norm.
Eventually, you find yourself in an unimaginable mess and on your knees, begging God for help. But know this, even while you do your dirt and feel the most disgusted with yourself, God is not mad at you; He still loves you. Nothing you do will ever change His love for you.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 8:38–39 (NLT)
I have learned that no matter what I do, God is never angry at me or judging me. Neither is He mad at you or judging you. The Bible taught me that not only is God a God of love, but God is love. And He loves me no matter how many times I fall short. Nothing I will ever do till the day I meet Him face-to-face will stop Him from loving me. He loves me beyond my comprehension. And He loves you in the exact same way.
And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. — Ephesians 3:18–19 (NLT)
Comments