What God May Really Be Like – Misbeliefs About God

Can We Ask God For Anything And Get It?

Any loving parent would say to their child at one time or another “Anything you need, I mean anything, please just ask.” Certain conditions are understood without discussion, but we still love our children unconditionally. Sometimes, we might think God loves/God loves me not depending on if our prayers are answered our way.

Matthew 21:21-22 says “…you can say to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask in prayer.” This was not a blank check as Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” prayer was not answered, but Jesus had a point. It will be as if we can move mountains when having faith in Jesus rather than denying that Jesus was the Messiah. Matthew 7:7 says “Ask and it will be given to you…” It is possible to do to others what you want done to you if only you ask God. [v12]

One of the most prevalent aspects of petition prayer in Scripture involves individual, character change. In the “whatever ask in His name you shall receive” passages in James, the context often is wisdom and endurance in trails [James 1:6-8; 4:1-3; 5:13-18; I John 3:19-22; 5:14-15]. We can ask for other things, but we are praying to the Creator of the Universe. Self-centered prayer is rather presumptuous. Jesus recognized God always had His and others best interests in mind – “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

I am not trying to excuse God from the life-changing business; I just wish to make God less discouraging or confusing when our prayers aren’t answered according to our will. Scripture assumes our requests are always answered because we desire God’s will. What loving parent would not do what is always best for their children and the world? How much more our heavenly Parent!

God placed a higher priority on freedom than control. Genuine relationships cannot be coerced. God does not always intervene the way we wish and things happen that are not God’s will, but God has not abandoned us or lost control. God does not guarantee we will never suffer from the hands of others, directly or indirectly. God will not override the freedom of others because we simply ask Him to do so. God has made it His mission to win back the hearts of people by choice rather than just destroy and start over. Do we pray in hopes to manipulate God or to cooperate and ultimately trust God to run the universe how He knows best? 

How Does God Bless Us?

We tend to think of blessings in terms of material prosperity or personal comfort. The Bible never promises such things or a life without problems. The disciples’ devotion did not prevent a martyr’s death for believing Jesus was who He claimed to be. Family devotions do not do away with rebellion. A devotion to studies does not guarantee a good career. There are no guarantees of material blessings in a free world, only God’s guarantee of His love, acceptance, and future eternity with Him. Believing otherwise can cause a strain in our relationship with God when material or physical blessings don’t come our way.

Good works are not so that God can love us more or bless us materially. Walking in God’s ways is a blessing in of itself. God desires we become more like Christ for our own good. A person who tells the truth does not fear being caught. One who speaks honestly leads to genuine respect from others. A righteous person can be remembered for generations and for eternity because of their positive influence. The wicked will die with nothing.

God sees every single act of kindness. We may be forgotten after retirement in our company but God never forgets. The parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20 gives hopes to those that start late.  Thank God there is not an exact accounting. Prayer is to know better who God is so we may become more like Him, not so that God will love and bless us more. God’s lack of material blessings doesn’t mean He doesn’t care or love us. God already loves us unconditionally.

Does God Whisper To Us?

When Bill Hybels writes you better listen. The man has a passion to serve God and has accomplished much for the kingdom of God. He wrote a book The Power of a Whisper: Hearing God. Having The Guts To Respond. He waited until after decades of ministry to write his thoughts on God’s directions for us. Bill is convinced God does sometimes speak to us, not necessarily audibly, and those can surely be the sweetest times in our relationship with our Creator. Who doesn’t long for such communication and direction from their Best Friend?

I am not sure it matters whether we believe the Bible suggest God today does or doesn’t speak to us. More importantly, God’s people don’t need to feel stuck or anxious. My heart goes out to those who long for such guidance and feel that they never get it, or they are confused if they are hearing God’s voice. When others say God’s speak to them, one might feel less spiritual because they don’t hear God in the same way.

Many don’t claim God speaks to them audibly but nevertheless God does speak to them, perhaps giving them impressions in the mind that we all have from time to time. I was on a bike ride and I saw a young lady whose car had broken down. Plenty of cars were around. Surely someone would help. Who doesn’t have a cell phone? I am no mechanic for sure. I was looking forward to a long bike ride and stopping causes my legs to tighten up. Blah, blah, blah! Was God whispering for me to stop and check on her? Next time, I decided I would stop. How do we know though when the voice is from God?

I believe God doesn’t need to whisper to us; He has already shouted! The Bible is chocked full of wisdom and guidance, if only I would listen and take action. It can be overwhelming and guilt producing, but we must remind ourselves God loves and sees every act of kindness, not just the times of omission. The Bible speaks of making wise decisions based on circumstances, gifts, and passions. We can seek out the wisdom of others for future decisions. But, we don’t have to wonder if God is speaking to us. The Bible is explicit about God’s moral will but does not imply there is a specific individual will in the day-to-day lives of believers.

God will speak audibly if needed; otherwise, assume you have God’s blessings if it isn’t immoral.  Don’t worry whether God is whispering to you if that is troubling you. God has never spoken to me audibly and I am unable to discern if my impressions are His, but I don’t lack guidance from God. God has given us total freedom to pursue the desires of our heart. God does not somehow lose control because our lives do not follow a specific script. In I Corinthians 7 about the decision to marry or not, Paul’s counsel depended on personal and worldly circumstances at the time. Paul did not condemn whichever choice is made. We do not serve a God who hides or leaves us wondering about His desires. God doesn’t demand His children pursue a certain career like some earthly parents. Make the wisest choice you know to make at the time. Many “Godly” paths can be chosen while still remaining entirely within God’s will. You just can’t go wrong!

Gender Roles – Mutual Submission?

Can we agree that male hierarchy, gender subordination, or one-sided female submission can lead to abuse more than mutual submission? One-sided submission qualifies as some form of subordination, if you call it “loving leadership” as opposed to self-giving service. Women over the centuries have been subject to abuse at the hands of men. The last thing men need over women is any type of authority. One person wrote to the editor of a newspaper “…it’s been bothering me since 9/11. What’s the difference between the strain of Islam that proscribes gender roles and its counterpart in Christianity that does the same thing, albeit with a different set of prohibitions?”

Words are important. Does the Bible teach husbands are to exercise loving leadership over their wives in marriage as opposed to self-giving love? I have seen a great deal of pain come from the notion that the husband is the spiritual leader of the wife. It is assumed husbands must make the final decision when there is an impasse. Normal conflict resolution skills can be used in any dyad relationship. I have never had a decision in 28 years that required one sex being the final decision-maker always. If we cannot be positive the Bible teaches one-sided submission or mutual submission, shouldn’t we error on the side less prone to abuse?

Why would God ordained men as leaders when Jesus’ emphasis was never on authority but service? Even Jesus came to serve not be served. [Mt 21: 26-28] When there is debate concerning the interpretation and meaning of the biblical text, we should favor the viewpoint that is less of a stumbling block to Christians and the most satisfying from a relational standpoint for those seeking God. If we are not positive what the correct biblical interpretation is, we should error on the side of liberty.

Ministry is not about women’s rights or equality but a responsibility to use one’s gifts to serve others. Many women are denied the privilege to exercise their spiritual gifts in the church because of one main biblical passage [I Tim. 2:11-15], which is highly debated among evangelical scholars. Women were never referred to as pastors in the Bible but then neither were men. There were plenty of men and women ministers/co-workers. [Rm 16]  Gifts were never stated to be gender specific. [Acts 2:17-18, I Cor 12, Rm 12] The priesthood of Christians is for men and women. [I Peter 2] It seems too risky to not empower half the church in their giftedness.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I still have a long way to go but I think I am getting there. Honey, please just give me 28 more years – pretty please!

Why do I do the things I wish my spouse would stop doing? Let’s work on ourselves first.

Why does my brain first assume bad intent rather than mostly good will?  Some of us are married to the devil. Many of us just think we are. Are our spouses any different than us? Don’t we for the most part have good intentions but screw up from time to time. Do we want mercy or instant justice?  

Let’s treat one another like we want to be treated – with love and respect. Say sorry when we mess up. If we can’t break the crazy cycle get help.

We better drive a stake in the ground till death do us part, barring obvious to all intentional evil by our partner with no desire to act otherwise. It just is more stable for the children. We can’t change the past but our future is undetermined.

The Creator knows a thing or two about relationships, since He created them. Know and trust His ways. Your odds are better you will have less regrets.

Why Does God Allow Personal Tragedies?

How we answer “Why, God?” in times of distress is critical to our relationship with God. Much of suffering is either self-inflicted or inflicted upon others by lawless and cruel people. A person is killed by a drunk driver because an individual makes a choice to drink and drive. Even some natural disasters can be traced to exploiting and destroying nature by pollution of air, water, and other acts of destruction to soil and vegetation. Freedom gone awry, after God created a perfect world in the beginning, has cause progressive deterioration both of physical and human nature.

Obviously, many tragedies are not self-inflicted or inflicted by others. A person may become paralyzed after riding a horse just because of the way they fell. We need to have a clear understanding of God’s role in suffering, or we may be tempted to blame God rather than receive the comfort He can provide. Tragedy is hard enough without wondering if God is punishing us or “God, do you really love me?”

Many are comforted by believing that God is directing everything that happens, but many struggle with the thought that God is pulling strings in heaven as to what tragedy we may or may not experience? Do we really think God allows some children to be sexually abused but not others because of some grand purpose or scheme? Did God really select which people would escape the 911 terrorist attacks? God forbid disputable understandings of God’s role in suffering drive people to unbelief or despair.

Many are more comforted knowing that God does not cause or plan all their sufferings, that God grieves as He did not desire our suffering, that God will walk hand-in hand with us through any tragedy to bring good from it (though he does not orchestrate evil to accomplish this), and that God promises an end to suffering as He has conquered death. What kind of God allows His Son to be crucified for accusations He was innocent of in hopes of persuading us to trust in God rather than our own destructive ways?

Suffering, whether self-inflicted or inflicted upon others, had to become a part of God’s story if He was to allow freedom. God cannot just manufacture events so suffering only impacts those who deserve it. Even God cannot create and guarantee life without violence and suffering and yet there be genuine free will. Besides, when God interferes with one tragedy we would accuse Him of injustice until He prevented every single tragedy.  God allows suffering as a megaphone to distract us from our selfishness. God allowing suffering may be the only way to love the greatest number of selfish people back to unselfishness while preserving freedom. The alternative is instant justice and no mercy. Suffering, even it not self-inflicted, can enable us to not fall in love with what the world offers. Significant changes often only happen during adversity than prosperous times.

God allows suffering as a megaphone to enable us to better serve others, as did Jesus’ suffering. Jesus’ sufferings, not miracles, is what turned hearts rather than heads. Personal sufferings enable us to be trusted by others, because we have “walked in their shoes.” We can trust Jesus because He has faced and conquered all the adversities we face. God can, and does, bring good out of terrible tragedies if we don’t allow a misunderstanding of God’s role in this world to prevent that.

Is Forgiveness Unconditional?

God’s love is unconditional but does the Bible teach God’s forgiveness is unconditional? I write with some trepidation of being misunderstood. God’s grace and forgiveness is at the very core of His character. It seems current advice or sermons on forgiveness are directed toward victims and the guilty are neither admitting nor confessing their sins. Doesn’t it take two to tango for there to be genuine forgiveness? 

God always forgives those who seek His forgiveness. But, passages such as Joshua 24:19-20 say God sometimes is not forgiving:  “…He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.”  The good news is the Israelites did repent of ways harmful to themselves and others and God forgave them. [vs.23-24] Matthew 6:14 says God’s forgiveness is conditioned upon giving forgiveness: “For if you forgive others when they sin against you, your Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”   Luke 17:3-4 states forgiveness is for those that admit wrongdoing and seek forgiveness. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them, and if they repent, forgive them. If they sin against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” 

One is hard press to find any biblical passage which indicates God forgives those who don’t repent, or that God commands His followers to forgive those who don’t seek forgiveness.   It is almost nonsensical to consider forgiveness if it is not being sought. Easy forgiveness may not encourage necessary change by the sinner, who continues to prey on other victims. Matthew 18 advices when a brother or sister sins against us: “Go and point out the fault…if they will not listen, take one or two others along with you… If they refuse to listen, treat them as you would a pagan or tax collector.”  This passage doesn’t say to go ahead and forgive your brother or sister in Christ anyway. One might ask Why would God ask us to do something He doesn’t Himself – forgive the unrepentant? 

What about Jesus’ and Stephens’ forgiveness of their persecutors? Acts 7: 59  says: “While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep.” Jesus said in Luke 23:34:  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing….” These were extraordinary circumstances as both were preparing to enter God’s presence.  They were forgiving spiritual blindness, which their persecutors neither confessed nor recognized. Some behaviors seem less willful and more due to spiritual ignorance at times. This is not the case of parents who abuse their children and deny any wrongdoing or individuals such as Hitler who killed simply because of the family you were born into. 

The guilty must recognize how their selfishness is ruining their lives and lives of others. Starting a confession with “I acted this way because…” is not a confession.   The Christian victim  may be haunted with thoughts whether they must forgive their violator, sometimes at the urging of others, even though the violator doesn’t seek forgiveness. The challenge for victims, when forgiveness is not sought,  may not be to focus on forgiveness. The Bible doesn’t say God forgives always or advise Christians must forgive after no longer fellowshipping with their siblings in Christ. (i.e. Matt 18:15-20) The challenge is to not take revenge. God is better able to handle revenge without being vindictive.  We must not allow bitterness to rule or interfere with life on a daily basis. It serves no purpose to allow another person’s sins to continue to hold one hostage.  

It can be a personal choice whether one chooses to forgive an unrepentant person or not. It can be understood reconciliation is not possible until the guilty party seeks forgiveness by repenting. I simply believe the guilty must understand the severity of their actions and necessary changes for current and future relationships.

Christians are encouraged to forgive those who genuinely regret their actions. Who of us has not sinned? Reconciliation is not possible without forgiveness.  It is the very heart of the gospel and essence of God. People often only experience what God is like when they are forgiven though undeserving. One cannot always earn forgiveness. One cannot payback what they have taken from someone (i.e. childhood with appropriate parental love, sexual oneness in marriage). Forgiveness may not be instant. Genuineness is proven by actions as well as words. Christians don’t forgive because others deserve it; Christians forgive because God forgives us. We certainly did nothing to earn or deserve His grace, but confession is an integral aspect of how we receive God’s grace.

Why Did Jesus Really Die On The Cross?

I have never quite understood why God needed to be appeased by a human sacrifice, especially His own Son! This was the way of the Old Testament gods. Can God only love me fully after sacrificing His Son to satisfy His sense of justice and soothe His anger? Is the emphasis of Scriptures on God’s wrath toward us or His love for us? Does God hate the sinner or the sin?

Was the Cross God’s attempt to persuade us to follow His Son’s example to trust God to overcome the power of sin in our lives or was the Cross  mainly for substitution reasons – God demanded death as a penalty for our  sins to appease His sense of justice and as a way to escape Hell? Any biblical passage in isolation can be used to defend either point of view. I am not denying Jesus’ death in some ways substituted for the consequences we deserve as a result of our self-centeredness, but I believe the Cross is so much more about God’s love than His wrath and how we can have victory over sin.

The Cross is not a revelation of God’s revenge but His compassion. The Cross is not to change God’s attitude toward us but our attitude toward God.  The Cross was not to pay some penalty but to provoke repentance for our gain. God is not concern with the guilt of our sins but with the restoration of the relationship. God does not need to be reconciled to us; we need to be reconciled to God.  God’s focus was on the power of sin over us, not our sins. God did not need to be appeased and His Honor restored before He could love us. 

• The Cross is an invitation to a friendship with the Creator and all the grandness that includes and not merely to escape Hell
• The Cross visibly demonstrates the destructiveness of sin and that forgiveness is never without a cost
• The Cross displays God’s wrath not against the sinner to hurt them or justify Himself but against sin that controls us
• The Cross gives God moral authority and credibility with humans, for God knew that He must go to  incredible lengths to convince us 
• The Cross is the undeniable proof that God loves us more than we can imagine and hopefully moves us to  love others as God loves us
• The Cross is an act of a loving God, not an act of appeasement from an angry God, so we might feel free from guilt and have our longing for forgiveness satisfied
• The Cross enables us to know God sees us as Christ, as our sins are nailed to the Cross,  so we can be comfortable in His presence
• The Cross expresses God desires not for a legal settlement of our guilt but  for a restored, personal  relationship
• The Cross encourages us to enter a relationship with God which is our only hope to break the power of evil over us
• The Cross demonstrates that we must trust God, as Jesus did, than believe in Satan’s lie as Adam and Eve did
• The Cross was Jesus’ attempt to influence us to follow in His footsteps to trust in God, than our own wisdom, to save ourselves 
• The Cross was because God loved us and not so He could love us
• The Cross was not God’s desire for vengeance but reconciliation,  so we might turn from ways of harming ourselves and others
• The Cross was not God’s abandon of Jesus but Jesus feeling the full force of sin as we might in dark moments – “God, why have you forsaken me”
• The Cross was not to satisfy some need in God at the expense of His Son but to satisfy a need in us at His expense

God, Why So Much Suffering?

We can expect God’s ways to be more comprehensible than incomprehensible, because we are made in His image. God’s reprimand to Job in Chapter 38 was not because God is unexplainable but perhaps because Job assumed if you acted righteous, as he did, then you can aspect God’s blessings. Job’s friends assumed suffering was a direct result of individual sin. Both assumptions are misguided. To understand why God doesn’t stop more sufferings, we need to understand how a free world and God get along

God allows suffering because He values freedom. God is not the originator or orchestrator of suffering. Suffering was not some grand scheme by God so He could ride in on a white horse and save the world. Suffering results from personal or natural evil. Much of suffering is either self inflicted or inflicted upon others by lawless and cruel people.  God allows suffering because genuine love can only emerge when one is free to reject it.  Parents, as God, attempt to persuade their children to reciprocate their love for their own benefit.  Suffering had to become part of God’s story if He was to allow freedom. 

God allows suffering resulting from evil because He values mercy and forgiveness. The alternative is instant judgment. God does not destroy at the first sign of opposition.  God tolerates evil than instantly judges, though justice is served eventually for victims, to change this chaotic world through their own free will.  God’s intervention to suffering resulting from evil is the slow, necessary way of the Incarnation. Jesus’ life and death was an attempt to persuade and empower as many as possible to treat others as they wish to be treated. Ask yourself – what kind of God sacrifices His life on the Cross so we can feel freedom from guilt, so we can be all God created us to be? 

God allows suffering as a megaphone to distract us from our own selfishness. It is not always wise to prevent our children from suffering consequences, whether self-inflicted or the result of a fallen world. Preventing suffering delays the growth process. Suffering enables us to not fall in love with temporal existence and love what the world offers.  As long as I am not looking to blame God for my suffering, I am a better person for the prayers He doesn’t answer than does answer. Suffering forces us to look to God and His perfect ways, which happens most often during adversity than prosperity.  

God allows suffering as a megaphone to enable us to better serve others.  It is not necessarily true that if God instantly stop all suffering, the world would be a better place. After a miracle, many just go back to their old self-centered ways as if the miracle never happened. Jesus’ sufferings than miracles is what really changed hearts. Our sufferings than healings can do the same in the lives of others. Undeserved suffering, such as insults, can make us more sensitive to others in similar situations. Personal sufferings enable us to be trusted by others, because we have “walked in their shoes.” We can trust Jesus because He has faced and conquered all the adversities we face.

The truth is we will never be satisfied until there is no suffering at all. What is sicker or more evil than torturing and killing millions of people simply because of their nationality or the family they were born into? What is more horrible than when an adult sexually abuses a young child for years, threatening them if they tell anyone of their dirty little secret? Evil is evil, regardless of the magnitude or how many humans are impacted. God’s constant interference according to His or our standards would make a farce out of freedom.

Many may assume God is causing or controlling their suffering, thus focusing on “why or what is God punishing me for.” Tragedy is hard enough without wondering if God is out to get you or “God, do you really love me?” God does not lose control because sufferings are not caused or controlled by Him. It can be more comforting that God does not cause our suffering, that God grieves when we suffer, that not even God avoided suffering though He could have, that God will walk hand-in hand with us through any tragedy and work to bring some good from it (though he does not orchestrate evil to accomplish this), that God promises an end to suffering as He has conquered death. 

How we answer “Why, God?” in times of distress is critical to our relationship with God. We are tempted to blame God for suffering rather than receive His comfort. God forbid disputable understandings of God’s role in suffering drive people to unbelief or despair. If we accept God does not cause suffering, we may still need to understand or accept how God has chosen to respond to suffering. He obviously does not stop a great deal of sufferings. God not interfering with suffering may be the only way to love the greatest number of selfish people back to unselfishness while preserving freedom.   People depend more on God during uncertain times. Dependence than independence from God is always a better thing because of who God is. 

God – Explainable Or Incomprehensible?

It is reasonable to expect God’s ways to feel rational to the human emotions and make logical sense to the human mind, since we are made in His image. God’s ways surely are more comprehensible than incomprehensible. Questions often dismissed as unanswerable may be answerable. This viewpoint may empower us to reach more effectively those who seek to know our God better. All we can do is strive to the best of our ability to understand what God’s inspired writers of the Older and New Testament recorded for their readers and future generations.

Job seems to get a tongue slashing in Chapter 38. Why was God being so tough on a man described as “blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil (1:8).” We want to be careful making too many parallels from Job’s story in our own lives. We should not assume all suffering from evil is some cosmic play between God and Satan. The book of Job does seem to clearly teach to avoid a common assumption when encountering evil. Friends of Job assumed he had some sin in his life that Job needed to repent of in order to avoid further punishment by God.  Always blaming evil or pain and suffering on individual sin is misguided. Lack of physical or materials blessings is not evidence of lack of God’s love as maybe Job begin to feel.

Did God gave Job a tongue lashing because he attempted to understand God and His ways or because Job assumed God only loves you if He doesn’t allow suffering to invade one’s life? [i.e. daily petal Christianity]  It is true no evil has free rein unless allowed by God. But, if we demand God punish immorality instantly or not even allow freedom, are we not judging Him as to how to deal with a world free to love or rebel against Him? Is this where Job strayed when God became annoyed with him? Do we humans actually know better to run a world given freedom to follow or rebel against their Creator?

We should not assume that God responds to evil in the same ways we might. Job was not accusing God of being responsible for evil, but Job eventually wore down and maybe questioned if God cared since God didn’t stop the suffering in his life. Least we be too judgmental of Job, remember he did not have the vantage point readers do about the cosmic warfare between the Creator and the Evil One. In the midst of suffering it can help to understand that God cares and has not lost control. Maybe Job, as we might, began to assume God didn’t care when all his problems were not being wiped away.

Misguided freedom, whether diabolical or human, does not create a fair world for God or humans.  Most of suffering results from personal or natural evil. Freedom gone awry has cause progressive deterioration both of human nature and the physical world.  God allows suffering because genuine love can only emerge when one is free to reject it. God by nature is a merciful and forgiving God. The alternative is instant judgment without mercy or forgiveness. We sometimes demand instant justice for all accept ourselves.  God did not opt out of suffering Himself. We will not always know why God does or doesn’t interfere. We must ultimately accept as Job that God is more capable of running the universe where freedom is allowed than us. Suffering had to become part of God’s story if He was to allow freedom. God’s ways may not always be our ways, thankfully. Maybe God doesn’t interfere with evil because of His Character!