A God who "gets it"

A lot of people feel God is not a fan of them. 

They feel that because they don't walk perfectly or "really good", that he's got them on a permanent "performance improvement plan" with little hope that they'll make it.

That group of people includes people who "go to church", those who don't, many who never did, and many who did for a while but quit because "what's the point?".

But God IS someone who loves people -- all of'm. 

After all these years, I'm still amazed at John 3:16 where Jesus said that God so loved the world...  

He said the world, not just some--the whole world.  All the people.

Not just those who "get it all right" and are an active part of a church.

Not just those who struggle to get it right, but mess up a lot and make up for it by keeping on trying.

All the people.  Even people you and I might think, "Hmmmm...well, maybe not them."

I think of a lot of people I know who "turned to sin" and either walked away from church or God or maybe even never got close to thinking about those things because of their preconceived ideas or negative interactions.

They think God has no heart, no place for them. But he does.

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I think about the story we call "the Prodigal Son" in scripture (Luke 15) where the younger son essentially insults his father by demanding his inheritance "now" so he can go live it up and enjoy life now.

In spite of the insult, the father gives him his share of money and lets him go to do whatever he is going to do. Can you imagine the pain in his heart?

After spending all his money and ending up broke and helpless, the son returns home in shame and in hopes of getting a servant job -- just so he can eat and not starve.

While he's still a long way off, the dad sees him out there on the road. What did he notice? Was it his son's walk? Was it a familiar piece of clothing?  We don't know.

What we do know is that when the father saw him, he had compassion on him and RAN to him and embraced him and kissed him.

From what I remember, Jewish men, especially the head of a household, did not run. It would be undignified. It would be shameful. 

But this dad didn't care. What did he care for? This son who had been missing. This son who could have been dead, for all the dad knew -- he was alive.

As the son is giving his speech to his dad about how he'd jacked things up, the dad is telling his servants to quickly get the best robe, a pair of shoes, and a ring for his son's hand.

Dad ignored all the junk and the speech his son was giving and turned everyone's attention to celebrating the fact that the son, who he thought was dead, is alive and that he was 100% welcoming him home, no questions asked!

And it wasn't for a lowly job or shameful position.  He got a robe, shoes, and a ring - symbols of status - symbols of place - he was his dad's boy, not a shameful reprobate - not a conditionally accepted person.

He was home.

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I wish that more people knew God like that.  

I wish more people could look past the filters of some of the things they've heard religion or churches say about God that have removed God's heart from the equation and made it cleaning up their act, getting with the program, and blending into a particular sub-cultural group that appears to love and affirm only those who are like them.

God's love is more than that and it isn't just about sin management, keeping up appearances, and enjoying some slice of life from the spectrum of Christian subculture.

I think if more people understood that, they'd hear God a little more clearly. 

Might even trust him a little -- enough to hear a little more.

And if they hear a little more, he might "get" their heart and see what he thinks of them.

If he "gets" their heart, they might see that he's that way all the way through and isn't just doing a "bait and switch" so that he can trick you into "falling for him" and THEN he turns up the heat on you and gets all cranky, expecting perfection and such.

It reminds me of a passage out of Hebrews, where the writer says...

"...since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."  (Hebrews 4:14-16)

A life with God is a life with someone who has been here -- has walked in our shoes -- and so he "gets it" and has empathy and compassion on us -- even in the middle of our junk.

And he invites us to know and remember that even when we've messed up, we can go to him on his throne of grace -- not a throne of scorn, shame, or judgment -- a throne of grace. 

We can go right up with confidence that we will always receive mercy and find grace to help us, even in our worst times -- like when we feel or know we don't deserve it.  

Even then, he's not turning us out.  He's not turning us away.  He's always welcoming us home.

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If you know someone who doesn't know God that way, let'm know he's better than they imagine or heard.

Grace and peace.