Ever met a person who made a strong first impression on you? You may have been drawn to them immediately, or perhaps they turned you off. But over time, you realized your first take wasn’t accurate. Maybe their initial friendliness hid a draining neediness. Or perhaps the aloof demeanour you reacted to concealed a well of introspective wisdom.
It happens to us all. Our own personality can react or respond to another person’s. We often sift our impressions through past experiences. Something we’ve heard about an individual might create an unfair bias. Or maybe it was just a bad (or good) day momentarily affecting our perceptions.
I know I’ve misjudged people, writing them off only to discover later a valuable quality. And I’ve been disappointed when someone appeared to offer something that they ultimately didn’t deliver. I’ve misjudged God, too. Badly!
My first impressions of God came through those who apparently represented Him; pastors, Sunday school teachers, missionaries, evangelists, etc. A lot of what they taught me was right on, but some of it was tainted by their inaccurate opinions of who God is and how He behaves. Much of my view of God came from a handful of people. That’s like judging a whole people group based on how you’ve seen a few of them drive.
I also looked at other authority figures, like parents or teachers, to get a sense of God. I have great parents and had many wonderful teachers, but they were all human and imperfect. Judging God through those filters was like, as Paul so succinctly stated, looking at a reflection in a dark or misty mirror. Trying to understand God by looking at people always leaves you with some inaccurate information.
But the biggest mistake I made was believing that God behaves the way I do! My attitudes can change depending how people treat me, so I thought the same held true for God. If someone does me a a kindness, I feel love and affection and appreciation. I believed if I was “good”, then God would love me.
But if someone hurt or disappointed me, I’d withdraw or try to punish them. When I failed in some way, I assumed God would be disappointed and withdraw or punish me. The amazing thing is that I held fast to that belief for years and years even though it contradicted what God says in His love letter. Two thousand years ago, James wrote the truth about God’s attitudes, “Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing.” Always the same, never causing confusion or misunderstandings by changing.
So what about you? Could it be that you’ve got some wrong ideas about who God is or how He behaves? Have you assumed He acts the way others do, or even the way you do? Here’s my suggestion, just say these words, “God, please show me who you really are.” I’m sure of this; He’s not exactly who you think He is.
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Wow that is so true, through my life I have come to expect that God reacts to me the same I would react to other people...punishing withdrawing and letting me know His true displeasure. If you read the scripture like you quoted God is exactly the opposite, if we mess up or make mistakes He is closer than ever extending the hand of truth love and faithfulness to help us to grow and learn who to trust and lean on, and that there is only one true stable source of support in which we can learn to walk without fear of falling and being stuck. As I have begun to have more of a relationship with God I have learned that He is a father not a heartless dictator. He is so wrapped up in us just as a father and even though he may have power to cause unmentionable torture and pain he doesn't use his power in those ways; He uses it in love which takes takes far more "power" than simply punishing.
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