“…as he(Jesus) is so also are we
in this world.�
1
John 4:17b, paranthesis added by me
For
most of my life I lived through a cycle. That cycle would be…life
is going well, things are working in my favor….and then a few weeks
go by and I’m gripped in fear because things are going TOO well.
Something must be right over the hill because things can’t go too
well for too long. I started following Jesus and THAT cycle looked
like…Jesus and I are having great time together, I miss one day, I
miss two days and then WHAP! I get a speeding ticket, or I catch a
cold. God must be putting me back in line for not spending time with
him.
That
was my perception of who God was. And that perception was my
reality. Now since then, I’ve been corrected a little in my
perception of God and have been freed from a lot of that fear and
religion. But I tell that story to give you a visual that our
perception of God dictates our identity, behavior and beliefs and
there are usually gaps between our perception and the truth.
And that’s what started happening to me. I began to notice those gaps and had to make a choice. Would I choose to continue to picture God as the punisher with His rod? Or would I choose to believe in the God of the Bible, who’s “kindness leads us to repentance.” I wanted to believe in a kind God, but to do so forced me to answer some serious questions. Why was I afraid of blessing? Why didn’t I feel like I deserved good gifts? And this time I couldn’t use God as a cop-out.
If you
read all of 1 John chapter 4, Paul explains in detail that God is
love. And that God proved His love through the sacrifice His son
made for us on the cross. And if we truly knew God then we would
love each other. Because our perception of who God is determines who
we are, whether its true or not.
But
how do you break out of your own wrong perception of God? I wish I
knew. In the place where I’m at in my journey, the most beneficial
things for me have simply been the awareness that my perception of
God could be skewed. That leaves me open to correction from the Holy
Spirit. On top of that is also having a relationship with God and
hearing His voice. How better to get to know someone then to spend
time with them. Alright I’m starting to sound cliché. But before I
go, let me end on a question. What do you tend to focus on? Who you
are and what you do for God? Or who God is and what He’s done for
you?
