I’ve been thinking a lot about God, and the misconceptions we all have about Him.  I could go on ad infinitum, waxing my own ego with “profound thoughts on a Supreme Being….”  But really, today, I just want to share a few ideas which are fresh on my mind and heart. 

I can hear my skeptical friends in my head, every time I sit in church, and I always find myself thinking about how the ugly things they believe/suspect/fear about Him are basically not true.   Like, how we’re not forgiven until we accept Christ.  –No, we’re ALL already forgiven.  Part of accepting Christ is choosing to believe that.  God already forgave you, but He doesn’t want to be a puppet master- He won’t *make* you choose Him.  He’d rather you choose Him as an act of love, just as He chose us as an act of love.  He didn’t have to, but He did.  -We don’t have to, but we can.

Or how Christianity is “a crock, because Christians believe they’re not sinners anymore, or that they’re exempt from the judgment of God, so they can do whatever they want.”  -Nope, we’re all still a bunch of sinners; we just try to seek the guidance of the Spirit to try to live better lives.  And we do NOT have a “free pass to do whatever we want now that we’re saved.”  If we truly believe the spiritual and existential gravity of that concept, that means that we are now *compelled/convicted* to try our best NOT to take advantage of God’s grace.  But as long as we remain in this human body, we are still broken and fallible.  God understands that.  He simply asks that we as HIM to walk with us and guide us, so that He can provide some light to our path.   

Or how about, “if I believe in God/become a Christian, bad things will stop happening to me” - ?  Well no wonder you’re disappointed, if that’s what you believed.  NOWHERE in that book, is that promise made.  Does He promise a “peace that surpasses all understanding?”  Yes.  But I can tell you from experience that profound peace *in the midst of* common human struggles is a LOT more powerful than a simple lack of complication.  After all, what men (humans) do we revere more? –Those who ‘succeed’ at living uncomplicated lives?  Or those who face great pain and adversity, and manage to take it on with grace, perseverance, humility, and resilience? –THAT is what God is offering.   

Then there’s “where was God when X bad thing happened?/ Maybe He LET (or worse, MADE) X bad thing happen in order to teach me a lesson/bring about ____ results/’make’ me get closer to Him.”  -What a mean guy, if that’s what you believe!  God ALLOWS all sorts of things.  Like I said, He gave us free will, and He has no interest in running a puppet show.  But He neither causes pain, nor does He ignore it.  Where was He when you were sobbing in a heap on the floor?  He was sobbing in a heap right next to you.  In other words, He’s got your back; He hurts when you hurt, just like your best friends, significant other, or close family members hurt with you, because they love you.  God doesn’t MAKE bad things happen- He hates ‘bad things.’  But that ship sailed, and it’s for another conversation.  In the midst of those bad things, He’s chomping at the bit to *use* them to bring you closer to Him and His love and comfort, and to provide any wisdom, growth, and healing that might be available in those circumstances.  But as is the nature of free will, it’s our choice to make ourselves available to what He’s offering in the midst of our pain. 

And on that note, let’s talk a moment about blaming God.  I’ll readily admit I’ve been mad at Him a good share in my own life, and assuredly will be again.  Not because X or Y was “His fault,” but because I too wish He just didn’t let us hurt.  Thing is, He’s a big boy, and He can handle us being mad at Him sometimes.  That doesn’t make those bad things His fault, though.  If I am hurtful toward someone else, is that God’s fault?  No.  I did that.  Likewise, if someone else hurts me, is that God’s fault?  Nope.  I just saw a comic strip where, in one panel, a baseball player is thanking God for his home run.  In the next, there’s a starving orphan and a drawing of God in the sky with a snide, indifferent smile on His face.  “If God is all-powerful, then how is it He gets credit for all the good things, but *doesn’t* get credit for all the bad things?  Why doesn’t He stop the bad things?”  Well I believe, like I said, that He didn’t CAUSE the bad things.  He is a good God.  But He did allow them, and my personal belief is that his “grand master plan” will ultimately answer for all of that, in ways we don’t have the capacity to understand.  But it brings to mind a quote I love: “I cried out to God, ‘look at all the horror and suffering in this world!  Why don’t you send someone to do something about it?’  And God answered, ‘I did.  I sent you.’ “   So yeah, if you hate all that ugliness, then ask yourself what you’re doing about it.  Ask yourself what GOD could do about it THROUGH you, if you *let* Him.

Like I said, there are other things I have thoughts on regarding God, but I’ll stop here, save only a couple more thoughts:  “Why would God care about what’s going on in my daily life?” –Well, He doesn’t have to.  But I believe He’s a being of love.  And if He is, then He MUST care that intimately.  “Why would God even be paying attention to us, considering we’re just a tiny blip in this immense universe?  I mean, isn’t that a bit self-centered of us humans to think that, if there IS a Creator, He would actually be paying any attention to us at all?”  -Well sure, He doesn’t need to.  But I’ll tell you that, if He *can’t* -as in, isn’t able to, in light of the immensity of all existence- then He’s not God.  But if He is- if there IS God at ALL- then caring about us and paying close attention to our daily lives- is certainly NOT beyond His infinite power.  “God is not limited to MY lack of imagination.” [-one of my favorite Al-Anon quips]  (Because, like I said, if He is [limited], then He’s not God.)