A Manless God

Our experiences tend to shape our views of God, right? Unfortunately, they do. I know mine have. My experiences with my parents are just one of the many things that have shaped my view of God. But, God has been working to redeem the way that I view Him and I have to say that I am grateful for it. It makes my walk with Him much easier.

When I was growing up, if I made my mom mad (I grew up without my dad), she sometimes gave me the silent treatment until I apologized, or told me that she didn't want me in her sight, or one of a whole host of other things you shouldn't ever say to a child. Her words and actions to me established in me that when I do something wrong or make someone mad, I must do something to restore that relationship; something more than ask for forgiveness and say, "I'm sorry". I've been told a time or two that "I'm sorry" doesn't cut it. What else can I do?

In the midst of writing that last question, God reminded me that His anger lasts only a moment (Psalm 30:5). That's not been my experience with man. But, He is a manless God.

The concept of God being manless came to me the other night at church when the teacher was speaking from the Book of Jonah. (It's crazy when I get something completely different than what the teacher was trying to impart, but I'm glad it's good.) I was reading ahead of the teacher and came to Jonah 2:1-2. It's the beginning of Jonah's prayer to the Lord from the belly of the big fish. It says, 'Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, "I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice."' 

Jonah was in the belly of the fish because of his own disobedience. Yet, he cried to the Lord and the Lord not only heard him, but answered him. That was huge for me. If God was angry at Jonah for being disobedient, it only lasted a moment. He didn't proceed to ignore Jonah...all Jonah had to do was cry out and ask for forgiveness, which I'm sure he did in his crying out. He didn't have to strive to please the Lord to gain back the relationship.

Last week, a friend and I were having a conversation about punishment vs. discipline. She made a very good clarification that I appreciated and have not forgotten about. This part of Jonah reminds me of that distinction. God didn't punish Jonah, He disciplined Him. He doesn't punish us, either. Both Hebrews 12:6 and Proverbs 3:12 say that the Lord disciplines those He loves. First John 4:18 says, There is no fear in love,but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. I think I understand that verse now.

Anyway, I'm getting off track of where I wanted this to go. When I read those verses in Jonah, I realized that God is not like man. He is not like my mom. When I do something wrong, He doesn't ignore me until I repent and make it right. That's why Jesus died. I do need to ask for forgiveness for my sake, though. If I don't ask for forgiveness, it becomes impossible for me to continue on in relationship because of guilt and shame. But I don't think God leaves me or ignores me or does things like man might do. He is manless.

The suffix, 'less' means, "without (the thing mentioned)". So, God is without man. He is without man in the sense of man that we know, the man stained and broken by sin. And it is in that that I take comfort and can draw closer to my God, knowing that He is good and not like man that I know.