God

What is your perception of God? There was a time in my life when I thought of Him as this big angry God. I pictured Him looking down from heaven in disgust and just waiting for the opportunity to punish someone, anyone. Typically me.

Where did that come from? Was it how my brain translated the Old Testament stories when I was a young child? Was it exposure to cartoons or movies that represented God in that fashion? I really don’t know. I don’t know if I was taught that or incorrectly learned it. But that was my perception of God for many years.

In my teenage years I grew away from God. No longer going to church I was only learning about God through the music I listened to. That was in the 70s and I wasn't listening to Christian radio. Here are a few of the songs that mentioned God or religious things:

“God knows I’m good” – David Bowie

“Stairway to Heaven” – Led Zeppelin

“Imagine” – John Lennon

“American Pie” – Don McLean

“Free Bird” – Lynyrd Skynyrd

And many more I can’t remember. I was sure there was an Alice Cooper one but my brain started to hurt trying to think of it.

As you might imagine many of the messages in these songs were not exactly Biblically accurate. So my understanding of God and what or who He was just got more jumbled up.

Then I moved into adulthood. A husband, children, a home. All these things led me back to church. It was in this process that I began reading the Bible for myself. To my surprise I found that God is not who I thought He was. He wasn’t waiting for me to screw up so He could punish me. He wasn’t distant and aloof. He wasn’t trying to take my fun away or stop me from doing the things I thought I loved.

I found God to be caring, loving, compassionate, forgiving, and merciful. God became “real” to me. He expresses joy and sadness. Things I could relate to. When I came across this particular verse in the beginning of the Book it really touched my heart.

Genesis 6:6 <NASB>

“The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”

The Lord was sorry. Man can I relate to that feeling. Not for the same reasons as God had but just reading that made God someone I thought I might be able to understand. At least a little.

“He was grieved in His heart.” Just reading that chokes me up. How great a grieve does the God who created all we see carry?

Heavenly Father, forgive me for all the times I made You sorry You ever allowed me to exist. Forgive me for any and all the grief I cause You. Father God please help me when I am weak so that I might resist temptations and that I may love others as You first loved me. AMEN