“God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children, God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.” Psalm 103: 8-13 (MSG)
In the past, I thought God was a hard taskmaster, watching my every move and waiting for me to make a mistake. When I finally did mess up, I figured He sighed a huge sigh, scratched His head, and wondered what on earth He was going to do with me. I thought He might even hope I did something wrong so He could snuff me out and be done with me. I should have realized if that were true, I would have been a pile of ashes long ago.
I have since learned my thinking was incredibly wrong and these theories did not come from God or the Bible.
God is full of compassion. His love for us distracts Him from looking for a reason to be angry with us.
Our enemy, and sometimes religion, lies to us about God and we end up being afraid of Him. When we fall short, fear causes us to run from God instead of running to Him.
But God is patient and doesn’t remind us of our sins. In fact, when He thinks of us, He isn’t thinking of our last sin and how terrible we are. God does not allow our sin to separate us from Him; instead, He separates us from our sins.
God is a perfect Father. The best earthly dad cannot come close to loving his child the way God loves His children. God looks at us through eyes of pure love.
Verse 13 of Psalm 103, “He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.”
God knows ever thing about us and yet His love is constant. We can be a handful at times, but thankfully, God’s hands are big enough! We absolutely cannot shock or embarrass Him. He knows that mud can be messy.
I am not implying we should ignore God and make a habit of sinning. But no matter how hard we try, we are not perfect, and God’s love is never dependent upon our performance. God’s love is based on Himself, not on us. Knowing this should cause us to sin less, not more.
God expects good things from us. He has big dreams for our lives and is determined to help us accomplish each one of them.
All the while, keeping in mind we are made of mud.