If God is good, why do people fear Him? Not the good kind of fear that Psalm 111 talks about, I mean the panicky kind. I suspect it has to do with guilt. A child knocks over his mother’s favourite vase. The child hides, and pretends not to hear when his mother calls, all the time preparing some elaborate story that will hopefully shift the blame. It’s the story of our lives. I’ll go as far as to suggest this has something to do with the reason young adults choose to get up to a whole lot of craziness, because they’re out of their parents’ home and trying to make it on their own, and this freedom’s boundaries need to be tested! And on top of that; why now submit to a God who probably just wants to spoil your fun anyway? You must be planning a bucket load of iniquity if you’re worried you’re going to upset God! And why involve yourself in this self-induced guilt fest?!
Dramatic as this sounds, it’s not uncommon thinking. We don’t know God so we base our decisions on hearsay and assumption. I’m convinced that the idea that God is actually good might sound laughable to those that only imagine judgement and correction as God’s main personality traits, and love is reserved for pope and the lady who runs the soup kitchen. Where did God’s love go ‘missing’ in people’s minds? If we are born with a need for love and grow up needing love and always have a love-vacuum of sorts within us, why is God such an unattractive option to so many, when it comes to finding true satisfaction?
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Matthew 8:32)
Whatever people think they need or don’t need, doesn’t change God or His characteristics. His love for us is unconditional and He is good. He is! If you are prepared to start the journey, with the clear view to finding out who God REALLY is, you won’t be disappointed. You’ll discover that there is a Father that cares for you, wants to see you shape a life that has a purpose, despite the mistakes or even the ill-directed successes of the past. There is new life and new opportunities to receive, not only of the good things that God has in store for you in this life, but the certainty of a life spent eternally with Him, where there is no need or concern for anything. The Truth is out there, go and find Him, and be changed.