God Good and Bad

“When I’m good I’m very good, and when I’m bad I’m better.”  Do you know who said that?  Mae West, a less than reputable woman with immense talents:  actress, comedian, singer, sex symbol, and playwright.  She made this tagline famous. 

And so today, are you mostly good or bad?  And regardless of your answer, where is God in the mix of all of that?

Does God only like love us during our good moments, and then abandon us when we are bad?

Hang onto your shoe laces because we are going to dive into this a bit.

God wants to be the God of our mundane moments and our majestic moments.  Therefore – God loves us in the middle of the mundane as well as when we are at the peak of perfection in behavior and attitude.

If you are like me, at times I’ve wondered some things about God and His attitude toward me at certain moments in my life.  Want to tag along for the ride?

~Does God ever get discouraged with me?

~Does He get tired of my asking constantly for some things?

~Does He ever forget me or lose track of me?

~Does God ever roll his eyes at some of the things I do or say?

~Does He laugh at me?

~Does He get mad at me?

~Have I ever done anything that He just can’t forgive?

In a word – what are the limits of God’s love and grace and abilities?

Isaiah 53:6 gives us our first clue.  Here is what it says:  “All we like sheep have wandered away.  All of us have turned to our own desires and wanderings.” 

It appears to me that God knows the nature of the human heart.  Sheep are considered by some to be one of the dumbest animals around.  They don’t have sense enough to stay out of harm’s way.  They need constant care.  

And we are often compared to sheep in the scriptures.  God is extending to each of us His great love and mercy.  In effect I hear Him saying – “I love you.  I care for you.  I will lead you home.  Trust me.”

As for God losing track of us; no way.  In Psalm 121:3 we read – “He who watches over you will not slumber or sleep.”  He is on duty all the time.  He never takes His eyes off us.

I can’t imagine God ever rolling His eyes at us, for I am reminded of this:  “Yes, my child, I have loved you with a never-ending (everlasting) love.  With love and kindness I have drawn you to myself.”

~Jeremiah 31:3

Nor does God laugh at us or get mad at us.  He often laughs with us but never at us.  Tonight I played a beanbag game with my grandson.  We laughed and tossed those beanbags at the hole in the boards.  We moaned and groaned at the near misses and we cheered each other on at the hits.  I like to think that God was watching our game and cheering us on as well and laughing when we laughed and chuckling when we missed and all-in-all enjoyed TJ’s and my game. 

As for burning the bridge between God and me, I don’t know of anything that is unforgiveable.  God loves the worst sinner, the worst murderer, the worst thief and especially the guy who sleeps in church every Sunday. 

It seems to me that God has some amazing abilities and a heart that is large enough to include you and me and the whole bag of our past that we each tote around. 

I read a quote tonight that is a nice summation for our thought.  It is by Corrie Ten-Boom. 

“It is not my ability, 

but my response to 

God’s ability that counts.”

~Corrie Ten Boom

We’ve seen a bit of God’s abilities in this study.  God is able to love, forgive, heal, lead, guide, restore, resolve, redeem, and reach.

All that is required is for us to TRUST the great hand of God offered through Christ Jesus.

Will you do that?

P Michael Biggs

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time