God's Angry at Me

God is a awesome, threatening figure and Jesus came to rescue us from Him. This is a concept I heard expressed on the radio today, and then the person talking debunked that misconception, but I realized it is one that I can understand. If you are a Protestant Christian as I am maybe you too can relate to this concept. Thinking about it though, I believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and I believe they are One. So how, if they are One, could they have such different personalities? I don't believe they can, I believe they all express the ultimate Love. So who is it that has always frightened me so? The answer to me is fire-and-brimstone preachers and Satan.

Whoa, you may be saying... you're putting preachers in the category of Satan? I don't believe they do it intentionally, at least some of them, but some picture God as a stern schoolmaster with a rod in his hand to hit the hand of Christians when they don't keep His Ten Commandments. Perhaps some people had a father or mother that they could never please and that strengthens their concept of God as a dark, angry figure. I didn't have parents that way, but I still developed this concept.

My grandmother had the above painting hanging by her front door. As a young child, I don't know if I thought it was God or Jesus but the picture scared me. To me it was a menacing, threatening God and I carried this idea with me far into adulthood. At age 40, I got a divorce from my husband and that cinched it. God could never love me again ... but thank the Lord I discovered that He could and did. That knowledge lifted a huge burden off my shoulders.
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Preachers I heard talk in my youth helped me develop this concept of God. Even though I learned the song in Sunday School, "God loves the little children, all the children of the world..." the figure of the God as it was thundered from the pulpit quickly removed that song from my consciousness. Although I learned John 3:16 early on.."For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life" I also remembered only part of Roman 3:23 "For the wages of sin is death" and that told me I was going to die because I knew I hadn't kept all of the ten commandments. Somehow the rest of the Roman 3:23 said ..."but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." escaped my thinking.

Perhaps you're wondering why I would do a lens about this topic. Because I'm afraid a lot of people are like I was and think that if they can't be perfect, God doesn't love them. He does! When we read about Jesus, we read about his love for his disciples, for the people who came to him for healing, even for the ones who persecuted him - remember he said on the cross "Father, forgive them". Jesus also said "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." John 14:9. I believe that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all Love. That doesn't mean we shouldn't hold up the ten commandments as our goal, but the bottom line is that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit all love us, if we are their child and if we ask them to, and they will forgive us for any commandment we break ... believe me, I break one or more every day, but I know God loves me and wants to forgive me when I ask. And becomes I know he loves me, that makes me work all the harder to please him.

This makes me think of different types of bosses in the work place. There are some that think they can intimidate a person into doing better ... perhaps that works for some people but it doesn't work for me. If I think the person I work for cares about me as an employee, I want to give my very best back to them.

God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit love me! That makes me feel like jumping up and down, stomping my feet, clapping my hands, shouting for joy and giving my very best back.
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