Changing My View of God

He went on turning away, in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him. Isaiah 57:17,18

There are times, even as believers, when we are prone to turn away from God and His ways. It is the way of our heart. God sees that. He knows ahead of time when that is going to happen. And yet although He has seen our ways and our waywardness He says “I will heal him.” His intent is never to leave us in our wanderings. Before salvation He was purposefully wooing us to Himself. After salvation He still woos us back to Himself.

I am learning that the first steps back to God are in being honest before Him. To admit to Him what is happening and what is going on in my heart. I use to find that so hard to do. I struggled to get past the thoughts of Him being disappointed and angry with me. When I would blow it, rather than approach Him with the truth and a heart of repentance, I would just try to improve my behavior and hope with time He would forget about the offense. It doesn’t work that way! Avoidance of the issues leads to a feeling of separation from God. Although He never leaves me I sense a distance. Unbeknownst to me, His desire was always to remove the distance.

A lot of this had to do with my view of God. When I viewed Him as angry, unapproachable, and tolerating me at best, I shrunk back rather than drew near. It wasn’t until I began to see what He was really like that I could come out of hiding and actually come to Him. He used examples in Scripture to help clear up my misperceptions. One example was the father of the returning prodigal son. If you are not familiar with the story take time to read Luke 15:11-32. For any who cannot see God as a loving, heavenly Father, that story will revolutionize you.

It is not just at salvation that God embraces us and celebrates our coming to Him. It happens every time we come to Him with honest confession of what is going on in our heart, life, and actions. I am finding it is okay to admit to God that my flesh is getting the best of me. To admit to feelings of anger, jealousy, and a bruised ego. To confess again that my heart has turned to idols of various shapes and sizes. He has known it all along! When I come He welcomes me back….every time!

Father, Your love overwhelms me this morning. Continue to change my view of You in areas where there are still distortions. Amen.