Most of us serve two Gods. No, I’m not talking about Jehovah versus Baal … or God versus X-Box … or Jesus versus money. I mean we actually have two pictures of God and we alternate between following one of them.
The first picture of God we hold is the theological one we know in our heads. This is the picture formed by everything we have heard and read about God. You could call it the “Church picture of God”. The one that tells us that God is powerful, trustworthy, loving, mighty and good. Our head tells us to run to this God.
But there is also a second picture of God we hold. This is formed by our emotional understanding of God and how we feel about Him. Depending on our life experience, our heart’s picture of God can paint a different picture to our head knowledge of God. Our heart can tell us that God is not trustworthy, loving, mighty and good – in fact, he doesn’t really care and doesn’t mind letting us down. Using this picture of God, our heart may well tell us to run from God.
It’s the ultimate head versus heart showdown. And in a crisis between head and heart, most of us follow our heart. Isn’t that the main point of most TV programs, books, and movies – “just follow your heart”? But our sinful hearts can be misled and misleading.
To reveal the difference between the two pictures of God we hold, answer the following question:
• On a good day, who do you think God is?
• On a bad day, how do you feel about God?
I have a suspicion the answers are very different. They reveal the difference between the head and heart pictures of God we hold.
Unfortunately, our beliefs and actions are usually born out of how we feel (our emotions) and not what we think. The impact of this is that we often run from God and struggle to trust Him with our deepest needs of security, salvation, love, acceptance and purpose. Why? Because our hearts tell us we can’t really trust Him. We feel it’s better to do it our way, rather than God’s. Maybe that’s why we talk so much about the need to give our hearts to God.
Recognising this battle between head and heart is the first step. Many Christians wonder why they spend so many years wrestling with God and feeling unable to rely on Him when they really need to. It’s often because they haven’t identified their underlying emotions about God. Deep down they harbour doubt, hurt or distrust of God. They don’t realise that their hearts are telling them to run from God instead of running to Him.
The answer is to combat our lying emotions. Every day we need to reflect and to remember. How do we know God is trustworthy and loving? In what ways has He come through for me and those I love?
Reflect and remember.
These reflections and memories fortify us for the days when we can’t feel God or His presence or His help. Remembering His goodness helps us deal with a sinful heart that falsely tells us He is far away and doesn’t care.
We can trust and rely on our loving Heavenly Father but sometimes we need to get past our own hearts to know this.
What’s your picture of God built on – your head or heart?
WRITER: Lance Boulton, Chaplain in the South New Zealand conference