WHO IS GOD?
(7-minute read)
This week, our guest speaker, Pastor Joyce Lim from Praxeis Church, asked the group, ‘Who is God?’. It is a simple enough question. Older believers might launch an impressive spiel with Bible citations about God with little effort. Others might be brought back to a difficult time when God felt very close. Pastor Joyce argued that people on different journeys with God have different perspectives of God and experience Him differently. Some are curious seekers, while others are driven by a deep-seated desire to know Him better, only to battle inner conflicts as they live out their godly convictions. But whether God is One who has our backs as our ‘protector’, ‘provider’, ‘healer’ or ‘comforter’, or One who holds the big picture in our lives like a ‘boss’ or ‘senior partner’, or a committed ‘Father’ to His children, God is invariably experienced as the Unseen One. He is the Unseen God.
This is probably the singular characteristic of God that is most difficult for many people. Yet, it is His unseen Hand upon our lives that delivers the visible changes and outcomes when we experience His providence, love, mercy and grace. The Israelites, too, had struggled to come to terms with God who was unseen to them. The Bible recorded that as soon as the patriarch, Moses, was away on a mountain for an extended audience with God and his physical absence created a void in their mental visualization of God, they proceeded to fabricate an image of God (Exodus 32:4b). In Egyptian culture, deities existed in visible and tangible forms. Clearly, the Israelites had not kept up with the times and were relying on the wrong signs to find God. This also should not be that alarming to us today - considering the proliferation of visuals on social media and the visual cues we rely on to make sense of the world around us. People connect primarily with what they can see and hear. Thus, for the Israelites, ‘in their hearts they turned back to Egypt’, to familiar religious practices in Egypt that made more sense than an Unseen God (Acts 7:39).
It certainly wasn’t that the Israelites did not recognize who God was and what He did for them but they needed something more substantial and natural, something that was immediately available and discernible like a man-made godlike statue to communicate with. They thought it would give them greater confidence about their future.
However, God wanted the Israelites (and us) to live and relate with Him “by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). And what is faith? It is “the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 NKJ). To be sure, faith in God is not about positive thinking, but is based on relational confidence in God. It is difficult to have confidence in God if we do not really know Him. Therefore, if we struggle with accepting who God is in our lives, we will struggle to have faith in Him.
So who is God? Most importantly, He is a God who cares! He is invisible but He is also invincible, unseen to us, but He sees us. He sees because He loves us. “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3).
Since the days of Adam and Eve, human blunders, rivalries and miscalculations have been recorded by theologians and historians. The conflict in Abraham’s household between his wife, Sarah, and her slave, Hagar, was no exception (Genesis 16:1-13). It had underlying themes of power, broken dreams and divine promises. Encountering an angel of God in the midst of it was the last thing on Hagar’s mind. In response to her encounter with God, she gave Him this Name, “‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’”
This domestic saga unpacks 3 truths about the heart of God:
1.GOD’S HEART Is One That Will Never Leave Or Forsake Us
Hagar found that even when she felt all alone that she was not. Genesis 16:7 tells us, ‘The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert.’ Hagar had earlier turned against Sarah and provoked her to retaliate, yet the angel of the Lord sought Hagar out - not to call her out but to comfort her.
God cares even when we are the ones responsible for doing wrong or not doing what is right because we are His children. God does not abandon us and leave us to languish in any mess that we have created because He has no desire to “let His Holy one(s) see decay”. (Acts 13:35, Psalm 16:10).
2.GOD’S HEART Is One That Heals And Disciplines Us
When the angel of God caught up with Hagar, he wasted no time to get straight to the point. He knew exactly what drove her to the desert when he asked, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” (Genesis 16:8). When the angel appeared to Hagar, he turned the place of despair in the desert into a safe place of disclosure and restoration.
In response, she confessed, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.” By identifying Hagar as the slave of Sarai, the angel did not cover up the truth about who she was or ignore what she did to contribute to the conflict with Sarah. She was not going to be let off scot-free because the angel sent her right back to where she came from, not to humiliate her but to heal her life. She would have to confront her own pride and take responsibility for her relational missteps by facing Sarah.
In the desert, Hagar felt alone and tormented by her own anguish. Deserts are harsh places but they are necessary places for God to confront our failures and free us from their grip. Before God, we have the safety to come clean with Him about a hidden sin, a regret, or a disappointment, because His discipline brings healing and restoration for those He loves (Hebrews 12:6-7).
What is it you have to face in your desert to turn the place of flight into a place of faith? There is much truth and wisdom in this teaching, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19). We can also invite a trusted person into our desert with whom we can be safe in our vulnerability so that they can pray with us. (James 5:16). Deserts are hideouts only for those with avoidant tendencies, but they are healing places for those who run to God. God will never ever shortchange those who trust Him because His primary interest is forming Christlike character in us. (Romans 5:3-4).
It is noteworthy that God has a trademark way of working things out in and through us when we would much prefer that He work things out for us. Therefore, we are to persevere through His discipline so we “may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:4).
3.GOD’S HEART Is One That Destines Us For Greatness
Despite being in a mess, Hagar was destined for greatness. To Hagar, God promised descendants “too numerous to count" (Genesis 16:10) and to her unborn child, Ishmael, blessings of fruitfulness and a nation in his genealogy (Genesis 17:20). But make no mistake that this would happen only if she obeyed God and cleaned up her act. She could not remain in her mess and expect God to bless her.
As Christians, we can never go wrong in embracing Kingdom values and confronting sins that we cover up under pretenses. Real growth precedes greatness; and the absence of maturity robs us of our destinies.
Indeed, the Unseen God sees us, and everything in our lives. Like Hagar, we can become prisoners of our own devices but the Bible reminds us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10). Knowing that God will never leave nor forsake us, that He heals and disciplines us leads us to persevere with Him and discover the great destiny He has for each of us.
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 8 June 2024.
