I’m hoping to have a great adventure together in 2012! What is it?
- Will we learn how to keep our homes cleaner?
- Get better organized?
- Surely we’ll learn how to be better wives/mothers?
Those are all good things, but if we don’t succeed in this “project”, the other things really won’t matter.
I saw all the projects that were being done in October when I was WAY too busy to do them. They looked so00 interesting. I asked myself what was left to write about. Yes, I prayed about it too!
Actually, when I’m talking to “myself”, Jesus is right there too. It’s a conversation we have been having for a very long time! Sometimes, I don’t know whether I’m talking to Him or me.
I kept running into blanks when it came to a theme for writing until sometime after Thanksgiving. I realized one day that we talk about God a lot. We know a lot about Him, but not many of us know Him. Yes, we think we do.
For example, we know God loves us but depending on what our frame of reference is regarding raising our children, we often think it is of prime importance to keep our children happy. So we expect Him to keep us happy. We are delighted when we pray and God answers our prayer in the way we wanted it to be answered.
However, there are times when that answer doesn’t come the way we wanted it. We don’t get the job we/our husband wanted. Our house doesn’t sell when we wanted it to…for the price we wanted. The parent/friend/child don’t pull through the illness unscathed as we had hoped.
That often has to happen to us as parents with our children. We often can’t give them something they would like, for a variety of reasons that we aren’t always able to tell them about…at the time. Often they wouldn’t understand the reasons, or wouldn’t like them if they did. Years later, when the topic comes up, if it does, it is often possible for them to understand…if we are able to tell the real reasons by then.
When we don’t get what we want, we aren’t happy with our heavenly Father and we think He doesn’t love us. Did He stop loving us? Or did we not know Him? Of course, He never is out of resources, so that really doesn’t enter into the equation. Which can make it more difficult for us to accept! If He is able to meet the “need” we have and won’t, why won’t He?
Despite the fact that our character development is not always our highest priority, it is pre-eminent in our heavenly Father’s goal for us. He would rather see us in temporary pain or discomfort in order for us to develop in the way He wants. Is that difficult for us to understand? Those of us with children often get glimmers of understanding this concept.
Did we realize that God is not like we are? I don’t mean in just a few minor areas, I’m talking in every way. There are characteristics of God that are not seen in humans. We can’t look at a human and say, “That is something of what God is like in this area, only bigger.” He has different purposes in mind for us than we do for ourselves. There are aspects of God we will never understand! Ever.
With that in mind, I decided to write on the Attributes of God. Frankly, I’m shaking in my boots! I gave it a title that will be a bit more user friendly: God: Who is He? 31 weeks to know Him better.
I don’t want to overwhelm you with a new one each day. We’ll discuss one a week. I’m sure there will be times when even that will be quite overwhelming. I’m hoping that from this study, you will personally get to know God better. I know that is my own personal goal. based on study from theologians, pastors and scripture. It isn’t designed to be throughly comprehensive, but to whet your appetite…to get to know God better.
You’ll have a week to digest it, put it into practice and hopefully, change some of the ways you relate to God because of it. I’m sure it will be encouraging. I know it will be interesting. Hopefully, it will be life-changing for all of us. So, buckle up, let’s get ready for our 2012 Gritty Grace Adventure in Getting to Know God Better!
Come join us next week as we start our adventure: the 2012 Gritty Grace Growth Adventure in Getting to Know God Better. Join us!
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