The first words I ever learned to describe God were great and good, and I learned them from this familiar children’s prayer:
“God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen.”
I didn’t question it. I didn’t analyze it. I just believed it.
But then God allowed something to happen that wasn’t great or good and I had to wonder if my understanding of Him was incomplete.
Is it possible to describe God accurately? Is it possible to define Him or explain His characteristics? Preachers like to throw out words like omnipotent and sovereign and immutable. How can you understand those descriptions when you can barely pronounce them?
And more importantly, why do they matter?
Over the next several weeks, we’re going to look at many of the attributes of God, but not in a boring, seminary-professor-lecture type of way. (No offense to all of the seminary professors reading this right now, of course). Instead we’re going to take the, “What is God really like, and why does it matter to me while I’m doing the dishes?” approach.
We’re not going to ignore the hard words. We’re just going to explore them in the context of your living room rather than the context of the entire universe.
It’s difficult to trust someone you don’t understand. But hopefully, the more you discover who He is and what He is really like, the easier it will be for you to trust Him.
What attribute of God do you struggle to understand?
This will be a very helpful study.
One attribute of God that I struggle with is His immutability. That He can choose me…know everything about me…sees my sinfullness….my evil thoughts….all my ungodliness and still He doesn’t let me slip through His fingers. He wont change His mind.
God doesn’t change and for that He is dependable. HOW and WHY does He do that? WHEW!
I look forward to your next post Emily.
HOW and WHY does He do that? All because of His Grace and Mercy, and His unconditional Love for us! What and awesome God we serve!
I know God is sovereign over all things in my life. But I can’t help wondering why He won’t take away this one thing in my life that causes me so much anxiety. I’ve done everything I know to do to help myself and have spent much time in prayer over the matter. I know someday there will be healing but I should could use some now.
I think of Paul’s “thorn” in his side. He prayed that God would take it away, over and over again, and He never did. I always wonder what exactly it was. That would be a great series for the future – a deeper look at dealing with those “things” that linger and linger no matter how much we pray…
Knowing God is the pursuit of my heart! I am always interested in digging deeper into the truths of His character and how it applies to my life! I even spent a couple years writing a Bible study on this topic :KNOWING GOD THROUGH HIS NAMES (http://marieldavenport.com/books/knowing-god-through-his-names/) Looking forward to what the Word will speak over this series 🙂
Mariel
marieldavenport.com
Let’s Talk! Complete this sentence in the comments: I’m thankful that God knows. . . what He knows and that I don’t know what He knows. If I knew now what the totality of the plans God has for me, good or not good, hard to deal with, or not so hard, or if I had known of the circumstances and hurts that have taken place in my life’s past, I know that I would now, and would have then, tried to rearrange them to my way of thinking. I would have spent a life time trying to prevent any hurt for myself and for my family. As I reflect on things now, I am most aware of where He was and what He was doing in me and through me at the time. I am thankful for the times He reveals Himself to me so that I will know what to do after seeking Him. But, as I have grown in my faith I am better equipped to let God know what He already knows, and to look out for the revelations that he wants me to know. This way, and I know it’s not happenstance, I can better serve Him without spending an inordinate amount of time on the “what if’s” of life. Oh yeah! I have not missed any of the blessings He had for me either!You do ask the most thought-provoking questions! Blessing to You and Priority Ministries. Linda
That is so true Linda! I never really thought of it that way, but you’re right. Not only am I thankful that God knows the future, but I’m thankful that I don’t! Just another way He protects us.