The Lord’s blessings poured out on me this month. Though I lived out of my tent in a mudpit during my month in the Dominican Republic with 46 of my squadmates, I could not have felt more blessed. Which, weirdly enough, is what led me to pry and question and seek God even further.
It is hard for me to see the gentle side of God. I tend to only see the” I’m gonna destroy and punish God.” But He is so much more. He is both the lion and the lamb. While reading in 1 Chronicles, the Lord opened my eyes to see an example of how He is both the lion AND the lamb.
In 1 Chronicles 21, David takes a census that Satan had “incited” him to do. Realizing that he had sinned, David prays for forgiveness. Gad then tells David that the Lord will give him three choices, and that David must pick one that the Lord will use to carry out against him as punishment. The first option was three years of famine. I thought: No, David. Don’t choose that one. The second option was three months of being thrown into the hands of his enemies. This one, of course, is still not very good, but in my opinion would be the most preferable. The third option was three days of the “sword of the Lord.” My thoughts were: Definitely not David. Do not choose that one. I, personally, couldn’t imagine the wrath of God being on me for three days. Scary.
Well, Spoilers! David does choose that last one. He says, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into human hands.”
Clearly, David has much more wisdom and insight of the Lord than I do. I could learn something from him. And that is what I did. More spoilers. David knew that the Lord is merciful and gracious and chose Him because of this.
Then, the Lord sent His angel to destroy Jerusalem, and after 70,000 men had already died, the Lord said “Enough! Withdraw your hand.”
Allow me to point out two evidences of God’s mercy from that passage. First, The Lord allowed David to choose his punishment. He gave him a choice. He could have just done whatever He wanted to do. He is God. But he allowed David to choose. Even that shows us God’s mercy. Secondly, even in the midst of His wrath, He extends mercy to David and the city of Jerusalem. Wow.
So what else did this passage teach me?
Glad you asked. Before I went on this race, I wanted to learn more about God, and who He really is, not just the image I had created in my mind. (Which I knew was a bit lacking or inadequate.) The truth is we may never fully understand the entirety of who God really is, but that’s ok. That is part of faith.
But another truth is that we can know who He is from His word. His word says that He is a lion as well as a lamb. He is healer, all powerful, strong, mighty, just, good, merciful, and loving. He encompasses both qualities of mother and father. He has a mother’s gentleness and nurturing love as well as a father’s strength and power.
It is important to recognize and acknowledge God as both. True, the Bible says, “God is love” in 1 John. But His attributes do not stop there. If we stop there in our knowledge of who He is, then we miss out on the other side; that God will fight our battles for us, because He is strong and just.
Vice versa. If we view God as only a just God who brings about punishment, we miss out on the blessings that He wants to pour out on us. He is BOTH. He is complete. He is the great I AM.
Personally, I don’t want to get the wrong image of God. I want to see Him for who He really is and not just what others tell me or how I view Him. I want to look in His word to see the truth about who He is, and then ask Him to show me His gentle parts as well as His mighty parts.
The truth is just like in 1 Chronicles, God is powerful enough to wipe out an entire nation, but His mercy is just as big to restore and rebuild that nation again. And that is who God is. A God who tests and loves; who heals and binds our wounds; who fights and protects; who disciplines and encourages; who blesses and strengthens; who is wise and teaches.
Now, reader, I encourage you to ask the Lord to reveal parts of Him where you are confused, don’t understand, or would just like to know more. My friend, Karen, who is not on my team, but is on my y squad, encouraged me to ask God to show me His gentle side as well as His mighty side. You too can ask God to reveal these things to you as well. He will be faithful to answer.
I challenge you to do this, because I don’t want you to have the wrong image of God as well. If you only have one idea of God in your head, then you are missing out on who God really is. I don’t want you to miss this. For a long time, I did. I missed it. No more.
“For the ear tests words as the tongue tastes food. Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good.” Job 34: 3-4
Until the next adventure,
Teej
