How Do I See Him?

Numbers 23:19

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

For the past few weeks, I have been participating in an online bible study. It has been challenging, but eye opening. I had no idea that I had been carrying so much baggage around. Since childhood, I have been collecting wounds, scars, scratches, and burns. However, these wounds were not from a physical abuse and mishaps, or miscalculated stunts gone wrong. They were mental and emotional scars left from hurtful words and discouraging situations. Most of those words were not even meant to cause pain, but they still did damage to my way of thinking.

I was riding in my car thinking about all I had recently learned. My mind went back to my childhood. I remembered things that were said to me to mold me into what people thought I should be, but I also thought of the many old sayings that were frequently used back then in ministry to help us become more comfortable in approaching God in prayer. We were often told to ‘talk to God like he’s a natural born man.’ When I consider those words closely, it was an effort to bring God closer to us so that we do not feel that He was so far away or that He was unapproachable.

I am certain it was not meant to be received that way, but I believe that it impacted how I approached God when I was younger in my faith. In some ways, it caused me to undermine my own prayers as I failed to remember that I was approaching the Creator of the Universe who commanded all things. I approached Him as if I was asking a friend for a favor. “If you will”, “if you can”, “would you mind” and so on. In viewing Christ as a mere man, I was also viewing His response and behavior to be like that of a man. According to Numbers 23:19, God is not a man that He should lie. The scripture also tells us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He was born of flesh, but He is also Divinity. He is high above mere man. If we do not perceive that He is more than a natural man, we will never be able to grasp that He is the answer to all our needs and concerns.

Please here this! I am not saying that we must be all formal and perfect when we come to Him by using all the right words and kneeling by the bed or face to the floor. I should know. I have come to Him in distress and screams of anguish and He was quick to respond. It wasn’t pretty, but it was real! It is not so much the position of our bodies, but the posture of our hearts. It means that we must understand that He is more than a man. We were created by Him, in His image, and for his good purpose (Genesis 1:26-27/Revelation 4:11). To my point, we must approach God as our Sovereign Lord with humility, but with the understanding that He is a loving Father who cares deeply for us. He is the Sovereign One who desires that we approach Him in spirit and in truth and belief that He will come to our aid. I can tell my friends all my woes, but most times my friends will not be able to help me in the way that God can.

Psalm 34:18(NKJ) says, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart: and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalm 145:18 (NKJ) says, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.” This means that He is already close at hand and heart. We only need to take his word as truth and understand that He will always be there. He is Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent. He is the Sovereign and Almighty Father.

When we pray, we are seeking help from the Creator of the Universe, not a mere man who has no power or authority to change our situation. It was good for me to recall this memory. It was a reminder to me that my words do have power. They can change my perspective, or they can lead me off course. I was reminded that even though God was born of flesh and walked on the earth as a man, He was and is still Divine. He is more than a mere man. He is our Lord and Savior, our Creator, and our Refuge.