Completely His: Ch. 2

Chapter 2 "Glimpses of a Loving God"



Just the other night in our life group, a question came up about how do you think God feels when he sees churches or Christians, fighting against each other. There were answers like, "It breaks His heart." "He probably gets angry. Thinking something like, why can't they just get along." and there were other opinions discussed, but many seemed to carry the overtone of God's anger and frustration with us. Maybe he does go through those feelings, but I tried to share that He knows how we are made and that we are but dust, so His patience with us has to be so much more then we are when we are dealing with our own children.


I share this because toward the beginning of this chapter, there was something Shannon said that brought me back to this conversation. She shares, "God's nature isn't always what it seems either. Before the car accident I saw God as a heavenly kill-joy...an angry disciplinarian...a disinterested, distant being who was exasperated by my failed attempts at getting my spiritual act together. Had I known that God's nature is so merciful, so gracious, so patient, kind, and loving...", she then goes on to say we need to get a glimpse of God's true nature, "He can't do wrong by you.... It's not that He won't. He can't....You can't do anything good enough to make Him love you any more than He already does, nor can you do anything bad enough to make Him love you any less. God is unchangeable, forever committed to His love relationship with you." (pg 14) Oh how I want us all to get this. I want my neighbors who are just babes in Christ to learn this early in their Christian walk.

We can see glimpses of God in nature. "Why did God craft such a wonderful world for us to live in?" Think through this for a second and come up with why you think so. Could it be as she believes that "it is all part of His plan to woo us into recognizing what a masterful artist He truly is and that He paints these masterpieces especially for us." (pg 17)

"Imagine something you consider your favorite (your favorite animal, your favorite season, your favorite color...), and realize it is a glorious gift from a God who knows your tastes better than you know them yourself." (pg 17) I have to say that I've never really given much thought to things this way. I've never been enthralled with nature and creation like some are, such as Jeff. Yes, I comment on a beautiful sunset, and beautiful scenery. I love the thunderstorms we've been having. It brings a sense of comfort and warm memories of my childhood (even though I didn't enjoy them so much at the time), to see the lightening, to hear the thunder, to hear the steady rhythm of the rain falling, to smell the freshness the rain brings. But I've never thought of them as God knowing me so well that He gives these as gifts, that He is wooing me.

We can also see glimpses of God in human nature, for we are made in God's image (see Genesis 1:26). Shannon gives an example of how when we have romantic feelings we have physiological responses, such as butterflies in our stomach, feeling giddy, our heart skipping a beat. That is a glimpse of how God feels when we, as humans, turn our attentions towards Him, in our prayers, in our worship, in our lives.

"One of the clearest glimpses of God comes from reading the love letter He wrote us... Sometimes we are lulled into thinking that it's really not that important to read God's Word, as if it simply contains historical information that doesn't apply to us today." If your husband or boyfriend (or wife or girlfriend) wrote a love letter, how eager would you be to open it, read it, pour over it? "Remember that the Bible is God's love letter to you, written straight from His heart in order to touch yours." (pg 21) Have you forgotten and lost sight of this? I have.

In His Love Letter, we can see glimpses of him in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. As Shannon shares of relating to Abram (later known as Abraham) I could relate right along with her. "God required something of Abram first--an act of obedience and trust. He called Abram to move to an entirely new and completely unfamiliar land, which required an enormous leap of faith for Abram and his entire household." (pg 25) Helllloooo! Colorado. New Hope. To use her words, yet make it personal to me, "Had we not been willing, as Abram was, to obediently venture away from our Kansas roots, we would have never discovered this "promised land" that we call New Hope." (pg 26)

Have you been called out of you comfort zone? One day you might be. "Regardless of what kind of change God asks of you, and no matter how difficult what He asks may seem, obedience to His voice will always result in blessing in the long run. that's just the kind of God we serve. He wants to give us marvelous things and experiences that we perhaps never dreamed of, but first we have to let go of our own little world and begin to venture out into His." (pg 27)

To close out this chapter, she asks some questions that I plan to apply in my Bible reading. This will allow us to see glimpses of Him throughout His Word.

1. As you read the Bible, are you inviting Him to help you identify with the character written about in the Scriptures?
2. Are you looking to see how God has wooed and pursued humanity into a love relationship with Him? (pg 28)

"While God is eager to reveal these treasures to us, we must open our Bibles to recognize them." (pg 29)

I hope you are getting something out of what I'm learning. Maybe you would want to go pick up the book for yourself. (I ordered mine off of Amazon.com) You could read this with me, we could chat about what we are learning! I would love to hear how God speaks to you and how he is wooing you.

Next week will be chapters 3 & 4


NOTE: the blue is quotes from the book, and the bold is my emphasis