Understanding God: He Does Not Hold Grudges Forever And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive[a] with man forever, for he is indeed flesh.” – Genesis 6:3 Another attribute…
Understanding God: He Does Not Hold Grudges Forever
And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive[a] with man forever, for he is indeed flesh.” – Genesis 6:3
Another attribute of God which we shall meditate on today is His disposition to unpleasantness. God has very high standards for living and conduct, something which humans generally are not able to keep up with and thus always fall short of His standards. Yet, He does not strive with humankind or hold grudges against anyone forever.
This can be seen in the Bible passage above. It is worth noting that God made this statement at a time when humans had multiplied greatly and had even mixed with the fallen angels, otherwise called the sons of God. Therefore, humanity did not only increase in number, but they also increased exponentially in vices and sins as well, much to the endless vexation of God.
However, seeing that humans will continue to grow in population, and their atrocities would grow in proportion to their number, God came to terms with the fact that vexing with human foibles was not worth it, as that would mean that He would be in a frustration mode every second of the day. Therefore, He resolved to adopt a change in attitude in His perception and dealings with humans.
Up till this time, there was nothing like mercy in the dynamics of God and humans or even in the interpersonal relationships of humans with one another. However, with His declaration, God set the process of forgiveness in motion and activated code mercy, as that was the only way He could continue to bear the excesses of humankind.
Meanwhile, before that was to start, something must be done. There had to be a cleansing of the old and corrupt crop in order to have a new breed with which the new order would begin.
And here comes Noah and the flood…
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
Understanding God: He Sees Beyond the Surface Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who…
Understanding God: He Sees Beyond the Surface
Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” Therefore, the well was called Beer Lahai Roi… – Genesis 16:13-14
Our meditation on the nature of God today shall be on His penetrative vision. He looks far deeper than we can imagine and sees beyond the surface of any matter. His visions are far-fetched and they see through whatever coating may be covering whatever is beneath.
From our reference passage today, we see how God exemplified this through His interaction with Hagar, Sarah’s maidservant. To an average eye, Hagar obviously looked a pitiable sight with a pathetic story to match too, and she was eager to capitalize on these to whip up sentiments in her favor as well as against her “wicked principals”, Abraham and Sarah.
Anyone with a sense of justice who visits the spring of water where she sat and sees a pregnant woman, looking haggard, in tattered clothing, panting and with tears in her eyes, would be interested in hearing her story. And, after hearing what Hagar has to say, the person would loathe Sarah for the wicked way she treated Hagar and may even take matters into their hands by reporting Sarah and her husband to the authorities for domestic abuse. But there lies the inanity of human judgment. Even with the best of intentions, our judgment and assessment can be ill-informed, not to mention the opinions we form from what is only evident to us alone.
However, in the case of God, because He knows more than we do about any matter, He is more measured and balanced in His own judgment as we can see in the case of Hagar. Even after hearing her pitiable narration, the angel did not join her pity party. On the contrary, he only ordered her to return to her mistress and submit to her authority—end of discussion.
As harsh as this verdict may seem, it is interesting to note that Hagar herself, the aggrieved party and the person to whom the verdict was delivered, did not seem to contend it. Rather, by her own acknowledgement, she only validated the appropriateness of the judgment by saying God had seen her, meaning that God truly knew what was going on and He saw what she had done that led her to where she was. So there was no hiding the truth of the matter from Him. She was the one in the wrong due to her rude attitude towards her boss, so she deserved the treatment she got.
With this her admission, she acknowledged her fault, validated God’s judgment and proved that He truly sees beyond the surface.
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
Understanding God: A Balancing Act And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of…
Understanding God: A Balancing Act
And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” And the Angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction.” – Genesis 16:8-11
Another lesson we can learn from God is His disposition to a balancing act. He is not a God of extremes. Even though some who profess to follow Him go to extremes in His name or make extreme claims on His behalf, extreme is not a label that one can pin on God. He balances the acts.
From the passage above, we can see how the angel of God asked Hagar to do a very difficult thing – she should return and submit herself to her mistress, Sarah, who had mistreated her so badly that she had to flee for her life. It was this same Sarah that God was now asking her to return and submit to. Who does that?
Meanwhile, as much as the move would have been difficult for Hagar to follow, God sweetened it for her by letting her know what she stood to gain by obeying His instruction. He told her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude… Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction.”
This promise of the great things that God would cause to be through her son and descendants was a sweetener or balancer for Hagar that would make the tedium of returning to the place of her torment a manageable prospect. God communicated this to Hagar the same way He usually handed commands to the people in the Bible, with each command promising blessings when obeyed and consequences when ignored.
By sharing with her what she stood to gain by obedience, God did not just ask Hagar to do a difficult thing but also provided an incentive for her to do it. He does not just ask you to give up something without adding something back to you. Similarly, He would not ask you to undertake a tasking expedition without a promise of what is in it for you if you accomplish it. That is his standard mode of operation. He is a God of balance.
Understanding God: He is Not Moved by Sentiments And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a…
Understanding God: He is Not Moved by Sentiments
And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” – Genesis 16:6-9
Another lesson we can learn from the personality of God is that sentiments do not move Him. Therefore, He cannot be deceived into making a wrong judgment or call, as humans tend to do.
From the scenario that played out in our reference passage above, we see how Hagar painted a picture of her horrible mistress, Sarah, who was mean to her and treated her so badly even in her pregnant state until she had to flee the house in fear for her life. Considering that this was a period when the climate was harsh and there were not many of the comforts of life that we are used to today, Hagar must have cut a very pitiable sight indeed: a pregnant woman, in tears, looking tired, haggard, sitting alone by a spring and telling about her wicked and jealous madam who constantly terrorized her because she, Hagar, was pregnant something that Sarah had not been able to achieve.
Anyone who listened to her tale of woes would have immediately condemned Sarah and her husband for mistreating a helpless pregnant woman the way they did. Abraham and Sarah would undoubtedly have made the news headlines for being an abusive couple who mistreated their poor maid-turned-surrogate.
However, despite her very moving story, the angel of God was not impressed by the sheer pathos of it. Rather, his response to Hagar was short and direct: “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.”
Who would have guessed that was how God would respond to such a matter? God that some have turned into a swooning, sentimental Being who gushes and croons at human dynamics.
However, the angel’s words offered us an insight into God’s mindset. He goes directly to the point and is not beclouded by sentimental shows and other charades that we put on to gain mileage for ourselves. He told Hagar, “Go back home and submit to your mistress.” Period. End of story.
Why? Because He had all the facts of the matter and knew what led to Hagar having to flee the house in the first place, and He was not going to allow her pathetic sight to taint His own judgment. We can all learn from that before jumping to conclusions and passing judgment over matters and people whose details we know little about.
Understanding God: He is A Creator In the beginning God created… – Genesis 1:1 It is instructive that “create” is the first word associated with God as we become acquainted…
Understanding God: He is A Creator
In the beginning God created…
– Genesis 1:1
It is instructive that “create” is the first word associated with God as we become acquainted with Him in the Bible. That word also sums up His personality and underscores one of His main attributes. He is a Creator. This is not to be interpreted loosely, particularly in the light of our contemporary use of the word. God is the ultimate Creator, as He created all things, even the ends of the earth (Isaiah 40:28).
Another word used copiously in the Bible to describe God is “the Maker.” He is the Maker of all things (Jeremiah 10:16, Jeremiah 51:19). He created both male and female, the high and the low, the big and the small, the mighty and the minnow, the poor and the rich (Jeremiah 51:19); He created the heavens, the earth, and everything in them (Isaiah 51:13).
This, therefore, leaves us with two lessons as takeaway from this meditation. Firstly, out of everything that God created, He decided to make humans in His own image, to think, speak, act, and function just like Him. By extension, that means every human has the creative ability of God.
If you stretch your imagination to consider the magnitude of creation, you would appreciate the kind of power with which God has endowed humans. We are wired to be creators just like Him. Little wonder that after God created all things in their natural state, humans, His co-creators, are entrusted with recreation, which has led to the discovery and invention of all manner of things. This is merely humans exercising the agency that God conferred on them at creation, when He created them in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27).
The second lesson to take away is that it is important to exercise our creative power in sync with God. Inasmuch as there are many good human-made creations that have graced the earth across the ages, there are also some man-made creations that God would not approve of, particularly to the extent that such deface or deform His original design and other fundamentals. In this regard, wisdom is profitable to direct.
That said, it is heartwarming to see how humans have evolved and developed the beautiful innovations and developments we have today, which are not just helping us understand our world and environments better but also helping us live a more fulfilling and comfortable life. The power of creation.
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
God of All Beginnings – Why Every Journey Should Start with Him
In the beginning God… – Genesis 1:1 There is no better way to begin this journey of exploring the people and entities in the Bible than to start with God….
In the beginning God…
– Genesis 1:1
There is no better way to begin this journey of exploring the people and entities in the Bible than to start with God. He is not just the beginning but is the origin of all things. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He sees the end of everything from its beginning. That is why He is called the Omniscient, the all-knowing God.
He is also not just omniscient, He is likewise omnipotent, all-powerful, and omnipresent, He is everywhere and is ever present. He is God over all.
While our reference scripture today is about to start acquainting us with the history of creation, perhaps we can also borrow a leaf from it by consciously resolving to make God part of all our beginnings. That is by inviting Him into the foray before we start anything of note or surrendering all our new experiences, happenings, and developments to Him.
Doing this will not only ensure that we have a formidable ally on our side as we proceed in our various endeavors in life, but it will also guarantee that our works are sustainable and can stand the test of time.
Why is this so? The universe is believed to be about 13.8 billion years, while the Earth, the part of the universe where we humans live in, is believed to be about 4.54 billion years old. There is no other entity around older than the universe created by God. In the same way there is no other creature on Earth older than the Earth itself. It was the story of how the universe and the Earth came into being that we are about to read in Genesis 1, and they all started with, “in the beginning God…”
Therefore, God is the God of all beginnings. That we acknowledge Him or not in our beginnings does not remove Him from such beginning, it only deprives us of His partnership. The more reason we must deliberately invite Him before we start anything and consciously involve Him as we continue with them. Doing so does not increase His stature; it only enhances our chances of succeeding thereof.
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
The Influence of Jesus Christ on Science: Faith Behind the Formulas (1)
Science is often portrayed as standing apart from faith—but history tells a more complex story. One towering scientific mind saw discovery as a pathway to God. What shaped that conviction?
The Influence of Jesus Christ
What if the very way we measure time, frame morality, and define civilization was traced back to one Man? Discover how Jesus’ life and legacy shaped culture, history, and even the calendar itself—far beyond religion. A timeless influence that continues to define humanity.
Understanding God: God of Reproduction
From the beginning, God revealed Himself as the God of reproduction. Made in His image, humans carry not only the ability to multiply biologically but also to create, innovate, and reflect His likeness in the world.
Understanding God: The God of Foresight and Sustainable Design
God did not create impulsively. This devotional reflects on divine foresight—how gender, reproduction, and continuity were embedded into creation from the very beginning.
Understanding God: The God of New Identity
God does not only change circumstances—He changes names. This meditation explores how divine identity precedes divine fulfillment.
Understanding God: God of Delegation
Why would God entrust creation to humanity? This devotional explores delegation as a divine attribute and invites readers to reflect on authority, purpose, and responsibility from a biblical lens.
How God Creates: Creating by Making
God did not only speak creation into existence—He worked, formed, and made. This meditation reflects on the sacred dignity of effort woven into creation itself.
How God Creates: Creating by Extraction
Creating by Extraction | Before anything fully emerged, it was already present—hidden, waiting, pregnant with possibility. This meditation explores a quiet but powerful creation pattern that reshapes how we see potential, process, and purpose.
How God Creates: Creating by Separation
Discover how God’s principle of separation becomes a powerful creative act in Scripture. This devotional meditation opens a window into the divine pattern of dividing to form something new, and invites you to consider what God may be shaping in your own world.
How God Creates: Creating by Declaration
A contemplative look at the God who speaks things into being — and a gentle invitation to consider what this reveals about your own creative authority and the quiet force carried in the words you release.
Add Daily Dew Devotional & Inspirational to your Homescreen!
