Both Sides of the Coin

They say that if you flip a coin enough times, it will land on either side 50% of the time based on the laws of probability. The outcome simply has to do with chance. But, you could take any set number of times and get some extreme results; like having 20 times of landing on heads.

This is interesting because it doesn't negate the law of probability, it just shows that there are circumstances, due to odds and other factors, that allow for this random and spectacular event to take place.

But if I were to see someone flip a coin and have it land on heads 50 times, I would begin to doubt that there was another side to that coin...

Sometimes, I think this is how people look at God. We focus on the love of God, his promises, his Justice, His grace and mercy. We concentrate on the things of God that make us feel good and fuzzy. We look at Jesus as this smiling guy approving all of our actions and are comforted by what we believe he stands for - acceptance and forgiveness. And, indeed, he does stand for that.

But as we read the gospels, many of us forget the flip side of the coin. We forget about the jealous God of Israel who loves us with such an incredible passion that his rage has burned against whose who had turned against him and rejected him. We forget that God punished with unabashed intensity those who place themselves as enemies of God. We neglect the fact that God's expectations for us are beyond what any of us can accomplish on our own. We fail to realize that failure is not an option...

Our perspective of God is incredibly important. A flawed perspective causes us to cast our own insecurities and incorrectly assume who God is. All through the Bible, it is GOD himself who reveals his attributes and character. He is the Loving Creator, the Provider, the Sustainer of life. He is the Lion of Judah, the Great "I AM." He is the Mighty God, a Jealous God. He is Sovereign, Omnipotent. He is the God of Justice. He is Holy. He is the Beginning and the end. He is Ruler of all.

To just look at half of God's qualities is to commit the sin of myopic perspective. When we only focus on what we determine to be God's predominant attributes (love, grace, mercy, etc...) we skew who God is. He is storing up wrath for the day of judgment. Jonathan Edwards had it right when he wrote "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

But wait! How can God be full of love AND angry at the same time?

People, He is BEYOND our understanding. He is God. He is able to contain every emotion, express them in complete Holiness at the same time. He is not flawed, nor does he express the petty and corrupted type of emotions that we humans experience. Just as his thoughts are higher than our own, I believe that if we were able to grasp even a taste of the intensity of God's emotions, our brains would explode.

All I'm saying is that for us to deny God the expression of who HE is by putting him in the poorly constructed and shabby box of emotions that we understand is a travesty. God is perfectly capable of revealing who He is.

Anytime I hear someone say "I don't think God is like that." or "I don't think God would do that." I cringe on the inside.

HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW?!? Are you resting on your own thoughts of God? Have you not allowed HIM to reveal His character and likeness to you? Have you sought Him? Have you even read His word? Do you not know that our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow? He has already revealed who He is...

It's the "think" that irks me. It signals to me that people are either unsure of who God really is, or they are so lost in the specifics that they aren't letting God speak for Himself. They're determining who God is based on their own understanding... Not good enough.

My challenge to anyone still reading - Stop! For just a minute, stop trying to place God in the box of your own understanding. Stop trying to fit God into your perception of the universe and life philosophy. Stop imagining God as the soft and fuzzy omnipotent father of love. (Not saying that's not part of who he is) But let GOD show you who he is.

This is the difference between having a God we can relate to and understand; a God we're comfortable with and experiencing a God who is beyond our understanding. A God worthy of our respect and awe. In fearful wonder we can approach his thrown and humble ourselves before the Lord God Almighty. Letting God show us who He is will break your world. His power can, then, fully be expressed in your life. His word will wreck your understanding. His will destroys your pomp and destroy the vanity of your intelligence. All this happens when we abandon our preconceived notions and allow God, and His Word, to correct our flawed ideas of who He truly is.

Let God be God. He is beyond even our highest concept of Him. That is much more terrifying than our lack-luster conception, but it is also far more comforting to me.