Made Of Mud

“God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he’s rich in love.

He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever.

He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.

As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him.

And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins.

As parents feel for their children, God feels for those who fear him.

He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that

we’re made of mud.”

Psalm 103: 8-13 (MESSAGE)

I used to think God was a hard taskmaster, watching my every move and waiting for me to make a mistake. When I did mess up, I figured He sighed a huge sigh, scratched His head and wondered what on earth He was going to do with me. I thought He might even want me to do something wrong so He could snuff me out and be done with me. I should have realized if that were true, I would have been a pile of ashes long ago.

I question where I came up with such thoughts about God. Is this something I was taught or did I come up with it on my own? Either way, I was incredibly misled and these theories did not come from God or the Bible.

Our enemy wants us to believe bad things about God so we will be afraid of Him. When we sin, fear causes us to run from God instead of running to Him.

Psalm 103 tells of God’s mercy, grace, and love. He is patient, not nagging and complaining. The way He treats us is not based on our sins. In fact, when He thinks of us, He isn’t thinking of our last sin and how messed up we are. Instead, He separates us from our sins.

God is a Father Who loves with a perfect love. The best earthly dad cannot come close to loving his child the way God loves His children. As parents, though we truly love our children, we can be selfish. But God is never thinking only of Himself. He proves it every day by being good to us. We can truly be a handful at times, but thankfully God’s hands are big enough!

Another way we know God is not looking out for Himself is the assurance of His word. John 3:16, 17 is a good place to begin.

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.” (MESSAGE)

It takes a totally unselfish love to send One’s only Son to save a bunch of people made of mud, don’t you think?

Then we have I John 4:16 which tell us “God is love”. IS love, not HAS love.

1 Corinthians 13 teaches us the definition of love. Verse 5 tells us “love is not self-seeking”. Anything that love is, God is. Anything that love is not, God is not. Therefore, if love is not self-seeking, we know that God is not self-seeking. Simple as that.

Verse 13 of Psalm 103, “He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.” God knows ever little thing about us. The person who knows us best still doesn’t know everything about us. I don’t even think that we know everything about ourselves. I know I surprise myself at times, sometimes good, sometimes bad. God knows all and yet His love is constant. We absolutely cannot shock or embarrass Him. He says, “They are just made of mud.” He knows that mud can be messy.

I am not implying we should behave any old way, ignoring God and making a habit of sinning. No! But I am saying no matter how hard we try, we are not perfect, and God’s love is never dependent upon our performance. God’s love is based on Him, not on us. Knowing this should cause us to sin less, not more.

In spite of our muddiness, God still expects good things from us. He has big dreams for our lives and is determined to help us accomplish each one of them.