God Has Great Balance

Day 84:  Exodus 34, Psalm 84 & 2 Samuel 4

There are a lot of people who say a lot of things about God.  Some say good things, some say bad things.  But what does God say about Himself?  How does God characterize Himself to man?

Moses was the only person that God revealed Himself to.  Moses and God used to chat face to face like two friends.  That's pretty amazing in itself.  But one time, when God revealed Himself to Moses He actually gave a statement about who He is.  And it's pretty incredible!

Exodus 34 records it, here it is.

The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the inquiry of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.

So, when God describes Himself the first adjectives He uses are, compassionate, gracious, patient, loving and forgiving.  He says that He forgives, iniquity, transgression and sin, which covers intentional (premeditated) sin, rebellious sin (like a child rebels against his parent) and ignorant sin (stuff you did but didn't realize you were sinning).  I'm super thankful for this!  He's big enough to forgive even when I choose to do wrong!

However, lest we think God is ONLY love without justice which is a false proposition He balances His love WITH justice.  Justice alone is futile if not balanced by love.

Look, if you committed a crime you would want love and not justice, right?  You would want to be forgiven and allowed another chance.  But what if your crime hurt someone else?  Where is the love for them?  You may have robbed them only once and it was your first time and you need a second chance, but perhaps they had been robbed multiple times - where is the love for them?  Love without justice is a false proposition, we all claim we want it for us, but it is, at it's core, selfish and does not bring growth or improvement only license to continue.

But you can't just have justice either.  If that were the case you would be jailed, or worse, for one mistake.  So justice alone is futile because it doesn't allow for growth, improvement or redemption.

God is both loving and just.  Here is a key point, God does not punish for no reason.  He is not an angry God, He is a loving God.  So He punishes the GUILTY, not the innocent.

You know parents that are all about love and not discipline and their children run crazy and it irritates you that they don't have better control.  But you also know parents who are all justice and no love and those kids turn out just as bad!  A parent who shirks their responsibility to their children dooms them to repeat the same mistakes and the parents are at fault, not God.  If you speed and get caught it's not the fault of the police officer who caught you, it's your fault for breaking the rule.

It is not God's desire to see people suffer, but they suffer because of their guilt or the guilt of those who are in charge.  If God simply saved the day who would seek to do the right thing?  God's going to rescue us anyway so... drink up!

The truth is that God put love first when He spoke of Himself because that is the side that He would like to spend most of His time in.  But BECAUSE  He loves He knows He must also discipline so that we learn.  Can you understand this?  Discipline is actually LOVE when it comes from God because His goal is always your improvement, never your demise.  God disciplines the guilty for growth, not for fun.  God loves the guilty also because that is who He is.

Be glad that your God is not too soft, or too hard, but just right in His balance of love and justice.