Precious Children in the Hands of a "Loving" God.

I remember being assigned to read the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God while in a composition class at Carmel Junior High School.  That sermon was written by theologian and preacher Jonathan Edwards in 1741.  The picture of God painted by this puritanical preacher was of an angry, spiteful and judgmental deity.  While reading this as a teenager, it definitely didn't inspire me to run into the arms of my beloved heavenly father.  Instead, this sermon caused me to want to hide from the one who loves me the most.  One paragraph in this sermon stated that "The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes as the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours."

    Although a classic piece of 1700's literature--Jonathan Edwards couldn't have been more wrong about the character of the God he proposed to speak about. 
    I think a lot of us have developed an opinion of God that to some extent is similar to the God that Jonathan Edwards spoke about. Life experiences have often soured us to the idea of having (or even wanting) a personal relationship with God.  We misinterpret hardship as God's displeasure and misinterpret loneliness or financial trauma as abandonment. A lot of these feelings are even more intense when going through trauma like a divorce.  Often the hurts and wounds that we have experienced in life color our ability to see God's true character and heart. Like trying to look at someone clearly through cataracts--what we wind up seeing is a hazy distortion of the reality. Jesus came so that we can know God fully and view him through clear lenses. God's heart for us is that he loves us like precious children. He knows all of our flaws and weaknesses yet loves us nevertheless.  He sent his beloved son, Jesus, so that we might understand his profound love and compassion for us.  It was our heavenly fathers biggest desire that through experiencing his love for us--we might be forever changed.  God wants our relationship with him to transform us into the people we were destined to be.  He wants us to live righteous lives--but that righteousness should flow out of our intimacy with God.  No matter how you are feeling right now or what you are going through--rest assured that you have a heavenly father that loves you. God knows what's going on in your life and yearns for you to call out to him in the hard times.  Even if you aren't quite sure how you feel about God or aren't even sure if you believe in him, it's ok. God believes in you, loves you deeply and earnestly desires for you to know him.  Below are a few verses that talk about who God is and how he feels about us.

1 John 4:9-11 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.