One of my favorite things to do is to study artwork of some kind, whether it be music or a movie, it doesn't matter, but I study it and think about how the artist views God. Is God central to their lives? Is God a vague idea? There are many questions to be asked but usually, I find that people have a small view of God. That is not to cast blame on anyone or present myself with a holier than thou attitude because I too am guilty of shrinking Jehovah God. I am only curious as to why we shrink God and underestimate who He is. of course, if you are not a Christian you probably don't care about how others view God or what that means to you but I would say it absolutely does and understanding why is not exclusively vital to the Christian, but also to the non-believer.
The small view of God that society has chosen to acknowledge has caused a myriad of problems. By thinking that God is not really in complete and total control, we start to try to take matters into our own hands and as a result cause more problems than solutions. This article gets increasingly more difficult to write as I realize just how guilty I am of this. To use an example of how this works, I'll share a story about me. When I first got to college in August of this year, I was very excited about all the possibilities and experiences that it would have for me. in the first month I put myself out there more often than I usually would and made an effort to meet people. I was quickly discouraged by the results. I was going to every freshman event the school was putting on and presenting the best version of me possible, but every night I would find myself alone in my dorm room, finished with my homework early and scrolling through every possibility on Netflix. Meanwhile, I would hear people outside my window laughing and conversing late into the night. I didn't know what to do, I was sad and thought that God wasn't in control, even in this small situation so I would bottle everything up and then end up crying to myself before I went to bed. That only caused more problems. I thought it would fix something but it only made things worse. Withing two weeks, I found myself surrounded with friends.
It is kind of a silly story when I think back on it but that's how we act as Christians in many aspects of life. Recently, we were wondering where God was during this election so we ranted and raved and continue to do so on social media which may seem like a small thing but it only spreads hate and to extinguish hate, we need love. When ISIS attacks, we wonder where God is and how He could let such things happen, but we never analyze our own actions, not all Christians, but many Christians jump right to nuclear weapons being the answer. In reality, Jesus died not just for your sin but every member of ISIS' sins. God is bigger than we could ever understand. We know that God is good and hates evil and when you pay attention to the things that are happening around you, it is clear to see that all things work together for His glory. I am not saying that we should live our lives without a care in the world, but instead that we should live our lives knowing that God cares and in that, we can rest easy. That is important for Christians and non-believers because the important thing to remember is that we respond to one another with love and tolerance because either we believe that we have a big God who is loving and tolerant with us, or we see what can happen when followers of a loving and tolerant God work together.
