How do you see God? When I was young and before I was born again, God was this far away, mean and angry, powerful being who watched us from afar and shot lightning bolts at us when we misbehaved… Obviously, if you believe God is distant and angry, you would be fearful and afraid of drawing closer to a person like that. You would feel like an unwilling slave forced to perform services to please the overseer.
Some people had very strict fathers, and this leads them to see God as the authoritarian teacher-like person who is watching everything they do, demanding best efforts. If this is our perception of God, we may live our lives trying to please Him to get ‘good marks’ in life by doing more works or giving more effort. Those times we fail, we may feel worthless and like a failure.
Other people had liberal fathers who tried to be lenient friends and never really acted the part of parent. This may lead one to believe God as our friend would allow us to do anything we please without consequence, and that He would tolerate our sins, so we don’t need to make effort to change, or confess and forsake, or be sorry for and pray for help against our sins. God surely wants to be our friend, but a true friend always tells the truth and warns us what pitfalls lie ahead.
Jehovah God, the Father is none of these, rather, He is the perfect Father, doing everything right, balanced in love and judgment, able to see us (Gen. 16:13) for who we really are- and can be. He has no selfish motives but wants us to be all we should be. Sometimes He rescues us from situations (Ps. 41:1), while other times He walks with us through them (Is. 43:2). Sometimes He allows us to face the consequences of our choices, and other times He hounds us until we change our minds. No matter how He chooses to deal with us as His child, we can be sure He is out for our good (Jer. 29:11; John ) and wants what is best for us.
Who we see God as being will determine our relationship with Him. If we are reluctant to draw closer in relationship with Him, then perhaps we are not seeing Him correctly, and we need to fix our perceptions of who He is. We should read the Word which will help us see Him more with a balanced view; the Father who loves and corrects us (Pr. 3:12; Heb. 12:6). When we know His love is sure and He is not waiting for us to fail so He can whip us, then we will want to draw closer, and He will draw nearer to us (Jm. 4:8a).
Who IS God to you?