“Who do you say that I am?”
I think we all know at this point that waiting for anything is hard. It’s hard to be expectant for things that don’t really have a delivery date. Even with a big read X on your calendar, it’s hard to prepare and anticipate. What are some of the reasons we find waiting so difficult? Sometimes it’s hard to anticipate well the good gifts from God because we don’t think we deserve the gift we’re receiving or we don’t trust the one who gifts it. If you find yourself feeling unworthy or distrustful, let me ask you, what kind of Heavenly Father do you have? How do you view Him and His role in your life? Do you think of God as the meany that permitted the devil to take away all that Job loved only to replace it with suffering? Or the wrathful God who killed the firstborn children shortly before the exodus? How about the God who sat idle as your loved one was diagnosed with cancer, or as that car-crash took something or someone from you? Do you allow the shortcomings of your earthly father to construct who your Heavenly Father is to you? If you have deprived your own daughter-ship or son-ship by having a misconstrued version of your Heavenly Father let me remind you of who He is to us.
I’m sure you have heard this before, but the bible is a love story to us and for us written by the One who loves us. In this letter, all of His attributes and how they manifest within the story of humanity and our hearts are revealed. The Lord has many attributes, some are incommunicable, meaning they are reserved for God only. Others are communicable, meaning that we get to share in these attributes as we were made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). I’d love to give you verses that you can pray with when meditating on a certain attribute. Let’s look at some examples of what each are.
Communicable Attributes:
Holy
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.” (Revelation 4:8)
Good
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8)
Just
“All his ways are justice.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)
Merciful
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (Psalm 103:8-12)
Jealous
“For the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14)
Wise
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Romans 11:33)
Loving
“God is love.” (1 John 4:8)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, so that anyone who would believe in him might have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Truthful
“You are God, and your words are true.” (2 Samuel 7:28)
Wrathful
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” (Romans 1:18)
Gracious
“For by grace you have been saved through faith.” (Ephesians 2:8)
Patient
“The Lord is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Faithful
“Great is thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)
Incommunicable Attributes
Eternal
“The eternal God is your dwelling place.” (Deuteronomy 33:27)
Unchanging
“…with whom there is no variatino or shadow due to change.” (James1 :17)
Self-Sufficient
“Nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” (Acts 17:24-25)
Omniscient (All-Knowing)
“NO creature is hidden from his sight, all are maked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13)
Incomprehensible
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways says the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Infinite
“Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.” (Psalm 147:5)
Self-Existent
“I AM WHO AM” (Exodus 3:14)
“All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17)
Omnipresent (All-present)
“Where shall I go from your spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7-8)
Omnipotent (All-powerful)
“Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power. Nothing is too difficult for you.” (Jeremiah 32:17)
Sovereign
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Revelation 22:13)
Okay there are about a billion more verses where that came from but you get the idea.
Several weeks back, in my blog titled Sometimes I wish I had it Harder, I talked about how each testimony reveals a different attribute and characteristic of God. Notice how one of the Incommunicable attributes is “Unchanging”. Unlike our fickle nature, the Lord is reliable and unchanging. Because we lack the incommunicable attributes like omnipotence, omnipresence, sovereignty etc, we let our ever-changing earthly experiences and relationships shape the way we see our relationship with an unchanging God. While are united by Christ through our relationship with God as “Our Father” each and every one of us has a unique relationship with Him (duh). Our unique relationship with God can reveal different areas of healing needed in our hearts because it reveals different attributes about God’s presence and involvement in our lives. Either we are believing the fullness of truth of these attributes or associating the distorted truth of that attribute to Him as Father and therefore bestowing upon God a nature that is not true to the reality of His character. When you first read that God is jealous, wrathful, and all powerful, we can kind of shrink back because when these attributes are attached to an imperfect and sinful human being they are negative, but when you attach them to a God who is also all good and holy these attributes that make us cringe are perfected in Him.
What do the attributes you project onto your Heavenly Father reveal about your relationship with Him and the parts of your heart that need to receive healing from Him?
What kind of Heavenly Father do you have? I invite you set aside a time of prayer to ponder this and humbly ask the Lord to reveal the lies that you have permitted yourself to believe about who He is. I invite you to use the scripture provided to remind yourself of the truths of what His nature means for you. For example, if you feel like you have relationship with a distant, angry God, who couldn’t care less about you or your future, let me me remind you of the truth that you have an ever-present God who has met you in the depths of Sheol in your suffering, whose righteous anger is directed towards the sins committed against you, and who wants to inflict justice and mercy onto your life.
The Lord is asking you, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15) Will you respond with humility and vulnerability and show him the false gods you’ve been making Him to be? Will you allow Him to show you the value you hold has his beloved daughter and restore a relationship with ?
With Heart, Ellie