This month FACETS of Faith continues its exploration of God’s most enduring attributes, inspired by Psalm 136. This week, we invite our friend and guest contributor Erin Nicole Thompson to share what she finds most enduring about God. Erin is the founder of Be Brilliant Ministries and the author of Daughters: Your Identity Rescued, Your Value Restored. For more information about her ministry or Bible study, check out her website.
And for more inspiration of God’s enduring attributes, check out Tracy’s piece on God’s faithfulness and Jennifer’s piece about God’s graciousness.
Without further ado, let Erin’s words wash over you, revealing God’s heart for each of you precious readers. We pray you are changed because God met you in and through it.
What is your best attribute? Your most enduring, inherent quality? What do others count on you for? Mercy? Wisdom? Kindness? Are you stumped? It can be a hard question to answer for ourselves.
Well, how about your spouse? Your parents? Or what about God?
What attribute of God do you just love? Appreciate most? Which is most precious to you?
For me?
It’s nice you asked.
My initial response was goodness. God’s goodness. That must be it.
But no.
Sometimes I struggle to understand His goodness in a situation, at least due to my limited perspective. Sometimes His goodness feels far off. Maybe you can relate.
So what is my most constant, consistent conviction of who God is to me?
Love.
Reckless love. Relentless love.
Ever-present. Ever-reaching. Ever-lasting. Never–ending.
God’s love – the reality of it, my experience of it, and my response to it – has to be His most precious inherent attribute to me.
It is more than an attribute. It is a reality. “God is love” (1 John 4:16). His very essence. His being. Love. He doesn’t just give it. He is it.
And because of that, His love is unlike any that has been experienced or existed on earth.
His love is unfailing. It is described as such a whopping 141 times in the Bible. I think that deserves a mic-drop.
We all can sing, “Jesus loves me.” But it seems more often we struggle to be satisfied by God’s love.
If that is you, I understand. Because for more years than I would like to acknowledge, I knew God loved me but I struggled to feel His love. To receive it.
So if you’re like me, here is a five-step-start down the road to be satisfied by the love of God.
“For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs” (Zephaniah 3:17).
Each line of Zephaniah 3:17 is like the guidance of a GPS. Each line shows us where to start and where to turn next. It guides us into an experience of the love of the Father.
“For the Lord your God is living among you.”
First, recognize God’s presence. We need to acknowledge it. When we rise in the morning and moan, “must have coffee,” realize God is with you. As you stumble to the coffee maker say, “Good Morning.”
“He is a mighty savior.”
As your fingers feel the reality of the heat through the mug, request God to fight for you in the day’s battles. Lay your worries at His feet. And realize that He is a mighty savior and no match for what faces you that day. Our second turn is to request God to fight for you and realize He will prevail.
“He will take delight in you with gladness.”
After we invite the Lord into our worries, we can allow our eyes to be lifted to His face. And let’s not stare at the floor but look into His eyes. Deep into His eyes and see how He feels about us. What He thinks of us. Because He calls us beloved. Chosen. His. Adored. Sought out. If that is what He thinks of you, what is His gaze like? May those realities allow you to feel His delight. Receive it.
“With his love, he will calm all your fears.”
Next, we rest in God’s love. “Perfect love expels all fear” (1 John 4:18). Do you have any fears? I do. But when I stand in God’s perfect love, it is the closest I come to being fearless. To rest in that love maybe you need to sit. Or kneel with your face to the floor. As He sings over you because…
“He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
God serenades you. Loudly. Boldly. Proudly. You are His, He is yours and He wants everyone to know it. He rejoices over you. You bring Him joy. Let that sink in and then respond. Show Him how you feel about that. Respond to God’s adoration and see if you feel blessed. Free. Forgiven. Released from the burdens of this world and the baggage you have been dragging around. And then run, run into His arms and allow your soul to be surrounded in His embrace.
His reckless love is present. It is pursing you. Fighting for you. Delighting in you. Calming you. Rejoicing over you.
We must receive it. Respond. And soon God’s enduring essence will become our defining feature. Reckless love.
Take a moment to receive. Enjoy and receive.
What enduring attribute of God’s do you value most? Join the conversation here or on our Facebook page.
