When God tests our faith, and holds us over the fire to test and refine us, it hurts. We grief and cry like anyone else. The difference is we still cling to God in our pain. We draw closer to him and cling tighter to him in faith and trust while those who do not hold a genuine faith, let go and fall farther from God instead of being drawn closer. The fires of God’s testing in life ultimately prove those who are his and those who are not by the way we respond. Strengthening one, while purging the other, so only that which cannot be shaken remains.

As Christians we know and remember who God is. We know his character. We know his name. He is “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin and yet does not leave the guilty unpunished.”

Because we know his name, which reveals to us his heart and character, we can trust him in the dark –

           when we don’t understand why,

                     when we don’t understand the purpose.

                            when everything has been turned upside down

                                       and both chaos and disorder paralyze us with confusion

                                                                           We know his heart.

  

We trust him to be who he says he is. He is incapable of being or acting in any other way but as his name defines himself –

                                                                                                 Good                                         

                                                                                         Compassionate                           

                                                                             Gracious

                                                                 Merciful

                                                           Loving

                                                   Faithful

                                      Slow to Anger

                             Forgiving

                        Just

There is no other God to turn to or call out to.

We acknowledge and take to heart:

“….. that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.” – Deut. 4:39

 

He is the one and only Living God. We do not want a God of our imagination.

We need a Living God who we know hears us when we cry out.

A Living God who is able to respond according to his own will which we know to be good and perfect.

A Living God who sees us, when no one else does.

A Living God who seeks us and calls out to us when we stray and run.

A Living God who carries us when we are broken and weak.

A Living God who defines himself in his name, which trust and depend on so much.

A Living God defined not by any graven image but by his activity proving he lives.

He is immense. No graven image can portray him. Instead we recognize him by what he does because He is the Living God.

  

False God’s are dead.

They can not hear.

They cannot see.

They can not move.

The are lifeless.

They are mere stones.

They are worthless idols

They are created and carved by men.

They cannot respond. They are delusions

They are powerless. They cannot save.

They live only in ones imagination – defined by us – controlled by us and die with us.

  

But our God is outside of us. He is not made by us. He is outside our control. He cannot be tamed. He cannot be manipulated. He cannot be deceived. He acts completely independent of us. He moves without being pushed.

He thinks.

He breathes.

He sees.

He hears.

He responds

He challenges

He speaks. He whispers. He calls. He reveals

He judges. He reigns. He delivers. He saves.

He loves

He hates.

He creates

He destroys

He conceals

He provides

He rewards

He punishes

He controls

He seeks

He convicts

He restores

He heals

He lives.

 

He is the Living God