Are You Really Ok? Намуна

There was a time in my life where I took the “do more” value statements of my childhood and transferred that onto my view of God. In my mind, God was proud of me when I accomplished something. The more I did, the more He loved me. But what happens when you can’t “do more”? What happens during those times in my life where I had to hit the pause button due to illness, depression, or heck, even a migraine? I remember believing that God must be disappointed in me when I had to stop my “doing.” 

Until one day when God replaced my view of Him with His truth. He challenged me to stop transferring my false beliefs onto Him and instead see Him for how He has revealed Himself through His Word. I was in my early twenties when I had this life-changing revelation. I was reading the story of Jesus’s baptism. I had read this story so many times before, but this time something stood out to me that never had before. 

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17). 

For the first time in my life, I saw it: God was pleased with Jesus before He had done anything significant. In fact, He hadn’t really done anything yet. The baptism of Jesus was the absolute start of His ministry journey. Before that, Jesus was just like any other young adult man with regard to His successes. He was a carpenter who made a living by building things, spent time with His family and friends and lay low in the world of accomplishments. Yet, God looked down on His Son and was well pleased. He was pleased because of who Jesus was to Him, not because of what Jesus did for Him. 

My eyes were opened to the reality of how I had transferred so much of my view of God from my childhood. The “work hard” mentality was coming more from what I had experienced and seen rather than from Scripture. I realized then and there that God was pleased with me because of who I was to Him, not because of what I did for Him. I allowed God’s Word to replace the false view I had transferred onto God—the view that had turned Him into something that reflected more of my history than His story. 

I wonder what—or who—has shaped your view of God. If I asked you to give me a list of words to describe God, what would you say? The average Christian will likely jump to the first good Christian, cookie-cutter answers that come to mind: that God is loving, good, strong, and mighty. But dig a little deeper than that. What do you really believe about God? For most of us, if we’re honest with ourselves, other words will end up making it onto the list. Ask yourself if you hold on to any of these beliefs about who God is: 

• Controlling

• Judging

• Vindictive

• Success driven

• Angry

• Ashamed of you

• Fed up

• Distant

• Demanding

• Unfair

• Unforgiving

• Apathetic

Your beliefs about God shape your relationship with Him and, ultimately, your spiritual health. You’ve got to take inventory of the things that you’ve transferred onto God over the years and allow the truth of His Word to overcome the template of your experiences. God wants us to stop seeing Him through the eyes of what others have told us, or through the things that have been done to us. He wants us to see Him for who He says He is and take Him at His Word. 

According to the truth of His Word, God is… 

• Love (1 John 4:16)

• Miracle working (Galatians 3:5)

• Ever present (Psalm 139:1)

• All-knowing (1 John 3:20)

• Father of mercies (2 Corinthians 1:3)

• Mighty to save (Isaiah 63:1)

• The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)

• Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6)

• Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11)

• For us (Romans 8:31)

• Our Healer (Isaiah 53:5)

• Rich in mercy (Psalm 136)

• Promise keeper (Psalm 145:13)

My friends, that is just a small glimpse of how God reveals Himself through His Word. Imagine if we could embrace the truth of who He is, rather than the false things we’ve believed Him to be. How could it impact our life? How would it impact our relationship with Him?