Trusting the Character of God

Malachi 3:6, "I am the Lord, and I do not change..." Isn't that good news? Isn't it good to know that you can trust in the character of God? Although we may encounter many variables in life, God is constant in His goodness.

Here's what I am continually discovering: The only way that I can truly rest in Him is by trusting in the character of God. While most of us would not admit to it, we have struggled over this very thing. Any time we debate the unconditional love of God, the goodness of God, the grace of God, or any other attribute, we are actually debating the integrity of God. We must have our heart "fixed" in this area or we will never be settled in our relationship with Him.

What does the Bible say about the character of God?
He is Good
He is Holy
He is All-Powerful
He is All-Knowing
He is Everywhere Present
He is Merciful
He is Love
He is Truthful & Faithful
He is Full of Grace
He is Patient
He is Our Defense
He is Peaceful
He is Righteous & Just
He is Beautiful
He is Fully of Glory
*And these are just a few of the attributes and characteristics of God that we find in Scripture.

What do we believe about Him? Well...depending on who you talk to...you might hear that God is loving but don't cross Him. You may hear that God is forgiving but you have to earn His love and acceptance. There's no doubt about it, God is misunderstood. We struggle in our understanding of Him because we have not settled in our heart who He is. I heard a preacher the other day who said that he grew up in a church where they believed that God loved you but if you went to far then He would just kill you. I began to wonder if we went to the same church (LOL!).

More often than not, when I get into this type of discussion, people want to debate the differences between God of the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament. The New Testament tells us that Jesus came to reveal the heart of the Father. What do we know about Jesus? What do we see in the life, ministry, and sacrifice of Jesus? What did we learn about God through Jesus? We learned that God is good, God is loving, and that God is willing to sacrifice Himself to redeem the world. We learned that God was personal. We learned that God is merciful. We learned that God wanted to restore a relationship that had been lost. Jesus has to be the foundation of our understanding of God. Jesus is perfect theology.

The next debate: The Book of Revelation. I have heard people question the love of God because of what they read in this particular book. However, Revelation does not cause me to question the goodness and love of God for several reasons. 1) Where is the church during all of this? 2) What is the purpose behind the judgment that comes upon the earth? 3) How does it all end? *The fact is that the church is called out of the earth during the tribulation (Yahoo!!!). The purpose behind the judgement is to purge the earth of everything that is not in keeping with the glory of God. It's a continuation of the restoration that God started after the fall of man. In the end, we see a earth that is full of the glory of God, man fully restored, and Jesus crowned as King of Kings & Lord of Lords. This book was never intended to cause us to question the character of God. It's intended to bring hope to the Body of Christ.

I realize that many people will continue to debate the character of God. I don't expect my blog to change this problem for everyone. However, I do hope that you will learn how to trust in the character of God. This life is full of ups and downs, but you can know someone who is unchanging. May it be said of the church that it is "In God We Trust."