How do you see God?

While hiking in Buffalo Park (Flagstaff Arizona) today I had some great time with God in His word. I broke man's law and went 200 years off the trail and found a quiet spot with that was shaded (a McCarroll requirement) that had a giant rock with a butt sized opening for me to sit and read. Our church is going through the Psalms right now and I was in Chapter 4. The whole chapter is good, but the piece that jumped out at me was verse 7 - 
"You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound."

This was coming off of the first chapter of a book I'm reading called The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer. He asks a very thought provoking question that he believes we should be asking of ourselves frequently; How do you see God?

I began to write out and answer to that question and was stopped dead in my tracks. I wrote; I see Him as loving - but only when I can see Him loving me. I see Him as gracious - as long as that grace abounds toward me. I see Him as merciful - as long as His mercy is evident in my life.

This struck me in light of verse 7, I see God only as good as my circumstances. If things are going great, God is loving and gracious and merciful, and when the train jumps the tracks, how quickly all of those thoughts of Him disappear. The truth is, God is all of those things and so much more, even when we are stumbling around in the darkness! For too long I've allowed situations to dictate how I see God and how I spend time with Him. When everything is great, time with Him decreases. When it's dark and scary, I'm begging Him to show mercy.

We must be passionate about our relationship with Him. We must be confident in our relationship with Him. We must pursuit our relationship with Him. How would Joy feel if my love for her was completely dependent on how good or bad things were? How would I feel if Penny or Josie only needed me when things needed fixing? Bad, that's how we would feel. I don't know if God feels bad when we are not pursuing Him, but as a father, I know it would hurt me.

All this to say, God never changes. He is not kind and loving when we are returning that love and He is not unloving when He chooses to allow us to face trials. He is with us in good times and in bad. Proverbs describes Him as "a friend that sticks closer than a brother". He longs to be with us. I know this because he had His Son murdered so we could live in communion with one another.

So I ask the same question as Tozer, How do you see God?

I'd also encourage you to go and listen to this past Sunday's message by Trace Howard on Psalm 13. I spoke so clearly to me, I believe it will to you as well!