Weekly Blog:
God's Love Through the Ages: From Waffling Faith to Faithful Hearts
In the grand tapestry of human history, one thread remains constant: God's unwavering love for His creation. Yet, as we journey through the Bible's narrative, we encounter a perplexing paradox. How can a loving God command the destruction of entire nations? How does His compassion align with the seemingly harsh judgments in the Old Testament? To understand this, we must embark on a journey through time, examining the intricate dance between human free will and divine love.
The story begins in Eden, where humanity's relationship with God was pure and unencumbered. Yet, even in this paradise, we see the seeds of what would become a recurring theme: waffling faith. Adam and Eve, given just one rule, chose to break it. This act of disobedience set in motion a cycle that would repeat throughout history – humans straying from God's path, and God, in His infinite wisdom and love, finding ways to draw them back.
Consider the flood in Noah's time. At first glance, it may seem a cruel act. But delve deeper, and we see a God who, faced with a world where "every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was on evil all the time" (Genesis 6:5), chose to preserve a remnant of righteousness. It wasn't an act of vengeance, but a reset button pushed with a heavy heart, aiming to give humanity a fresh start.
This pattern of human waywardness and divine correction continues through the ages. We see it in the story of Abraham, called out of a pagan culture to become the father of a nation dedicated to God. We see it in the Exodus, where God hears the cries of His people in Egypt and moves mightily to free them. As it's written in Exodus 3:7, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering."
But freedom, as Israel quickly learned, comes with responsibility. The journey through the wilderness reveals a people prone to complaining, doubt, and even rebellion. Yet God, in His patience, continues to guide and provide. This 40-year wandering wasn't just a punishment; it was a time of formation, teaching a newly freed people how to live as God's chosen.
The conquest of Canaan presents perhaps the most challenging aspect of God's love to understand. How could a loving God command the destruction of entire peoples? The key lies in understanding God's long-term vision and His perfect justice. In Genesis 15:16, God tells Abraham that his descendants will return to the promised land in the fourth generation, "for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." This reveals a God who gives ample time for repentance, who doesn't act in haste, but who also cannot allow evil to fester indefinitely.
The Canaanite cultures had, over centuries, descended into practices so abhorrent – including child sacrifice – that God saw no path for redemption. Like a surgeon removing a cancerous growth to save the whole body, God used Israel as His instrument to prevent these practices from spreading and corrupting the entire region.
Yet even as God's chosen people, Israel's faith continued to waffle. The period of the Judges shows a repeated cycle of disobedience, oppression, crying out to God, and deliverance. It's a stark reminder that being chosen by God doesn't make one immune to temptation or failure.
This brings us to King David, described as "a man after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22). David wasn't perfect – his failures are well-documented. But what set David apart was his willingness to open every room of his heart to God. When he fell, he didn't hide or make excuses. Instead, he cried out in genuine repentance, as we see in Psalm 51:10-12: "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."
This, perhaps, is the crux of what it means to have faith in God. It's not about perfection, but about willingness. Willingness to trust God even when we don't understand. Willingness to open every part of our lives to His guidance. Willingness to return to Him when we stray.
In our own lives, we often find ourselves waffling in our faith. We have areas we're reluctant to surrender to God, doors in our hearts we keep locked. True faith – the kind that pleases God – isn't about never falling. It's about always getting back up, always turning back to God, always being willing to unlock those doors when He knocks.
Jesus summed it up beautifully when asked about the greatest commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). This all-encompassing love leaves no room for locked doors or reserved areas in our hearts.
As we reflect on God's love through the ages, we see a consistent theme. God's love is not a passive, permissive love that allows us to destroy ourselves. It's an active, pursuing love that sometimes requires tough decisions for our ultimate good. It's a love that gives second chances but also upholds justice. It's a love that desires our wholehearted devotion, not for His benefit, but for ours.
In the end, understanding God's love in the Old Testament requires us to zoom out and see the bigger picture. It requires us to trust in a wisdom far beyond our own, to believe in a love so deep it sometimes looks like severity to our limited vision. And most of all, it calls us to respond – not with perfect faith, but with willing hearts, ready to follow wherever He leads.
In the grand tapestry of human history, one thread remains constant: God's unwavering love for His creation. Yet, as we journey through the Bible's narrative, we encounter a perplexing paradox. How can a loving God command the destruction of entire nations? How does His compassion align with the seemingly harsh judgments in the Old Testament? To understand this, we must embark on a journey through time, examining the intricate dance between human free will and divine love.
The story begins in Eden, where humanity's relationship with God was pure and unencumbered. Yet, even in this paradise, we see the seeds of what would become a recurring theme: waffling faith. Adam and Eve, given just one rule, chose to break it. This act of disobedience set in motion a cycle that would repeat throughout history – humans straying from God's path, and God, in His infinite wisdom and love, finding ways to draw them back.
Consider the flood in Noah's time. At first glance, it may seem a cruel act. But delve deeper, and we see a God who, faced with a world where "every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was on evil all the time" (Genesis 6:5), chose to preserve a remnant of righteousness. It wasn't an act of vengeance, but a reset button pushed with a heavy heart, aiming to give humanity a fresh start.
This pattern of human waywardness and divine correction continues through the ages. We see it in the story of Abraham, called out of a pagan culture to become the father of a nation dedicated to God. We see it in the Exodus, where God hears the cries of His people in Egypt and moves mightily to free them. As it's written in Exodus 3:7, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering."
But freedom, as Israel quickly learned, comes with responsibility. The journey through the wilderness reveals a people prone to complaining, doubt, and even rebellion. Yet God, in His patience, continues to guide and provide. This 40-year wandering wasn't just a punishment; it was a time of formation, teaching a newly freed people how to live as God's chosen.
The conquest of Canaan presents perhaps the most challenging aspect of God's love to understand. How could a loving God command the destruction of entire peoples? The key lies in understanding God's long-term vision and His perfect justice. In Genesis 15:16, God tells Abraham that his descendants will return to the promised land in the fourth generation, "for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." This reveals a God who gives ample time for repentance, who doesn't act in haste, but who also cannot allow evil to fester indefinitely.
The Canaanite cultures had, over centuries, descended into practices so abhorrent – including child sacrifice – that God saw no path for redemption. Like a surgeon removing a cancerous growth to save the whole body, God used Israel as His instrument to prevent these practices from spreading and corrupting the entire region.
Yet even as God's chosen people, Israel's faith continued to waffle. The period of the Judges shows a repeated cycle of disobedience, oppression, crying out to God, and deliverance. It's a stark reminder that being chosen by God doesn't make one immune to temptation or failure.
This brings us to King David, described as "a man after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22). David wasn't perfect – his failures are well-documented. But what set David apart was his willingness to open every room of his heart to God. When he fell, he didn't hide or make excuses. Instead, he cried out in genuine repentance, as we see in Psalm 51:10-12: "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."
This, perhaps, is the crux of what it means to have faith in God. It's not about perfection, but about willingness. Willingness to trust God even when we don't understand. Willingness to open every part of our lives to His guidance. Willingness to return to Him when we stray.
In our own lives, we often find ourselves waffling in our faith. We have areas we're reluctant to surrender to God, doors in our hearts we keep locked. True faith – the kind that pleases God – isn't about never falling. It's about always getting back up, always turning back to God, always being willing to unlock those doors when He knocks.
Jesus summed it up beautifully when asked about the greatest commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). This all-encompassing love leaves no room for locked doors or reserved areas in our hearts.
As we reflect on God's love through the ages, we see a consistent theme. God's love is not a passive, permissive love that allows us to destroy ourselves. It's an active, pursuing love that sometimes requires tough decisions for our ultimate good. It's a love that gives second chances but also upholds justice. It's a love that desires our wholehearted devotion, not for His benefit, but for ours.
In the end, understanding God's love in the Old Testament requires us to zoom out and see the bigger picture. It requires us to trust in a wisdom far beyond our own, to believe in a love so deep it sometimes looks like severity to our limited vision. And most of all, it calls us to respond – not with perfect faith, but with willing hearts, ready to follow wherever He leads.
