My
wife, Sara, took up painting this past summer.
In the process, she noted that to paint something
accurately you must
see it differently. She
grew up on a
farm and has seen thousands of dugouts and sloughs, but painting
one requires a
different vision. “You
have to notice
things you did not notice before.
You
need to see how the sun glints off the surface.
You must account for the way the reeds reflect in the
water. Seeing it is one
thing, but to replicate it,
you must look for the small details that make the entire picture”.
A
second
look is often beneficial. It
is easy to
assume that we know all that there is to know.
However, when we see past our commonly held assumptions, we
find beauty
that we had missed previously.
Such
is
the case in Nehemiah chapter nine.
God’s
people thought they knew their history.
Those stories had been passed down through the generations. On this day, though, the
leaders reminded
them not only of what their forefathers had done, but of God’s
history with
them.
Here are some the
phrases that
they used to describe God: “Forgiving… gracious... compassionate…
slow to
anger… abounding in love… did not abandon them… guided them… did
not withhold
your manna… sustained them for forty years… gave them kingdoms…
made their sons
as numerous as the stars in the sky… the people were well
nourished and revelled
in his goodness… you were patient with them” (Nehemiah 9:15-30).
That list is
important because that
is not the commonly held view of God. Many
believe that he is mean and demanding.
They look at the few incidents where he dealt harshly with
people and
assume that is his nature. However,
times of punishment came only after years of patience. In some cases, God waited
hundreds of years,
hoping that his people would turn and listen to him once again.
When we forget what
God is really
like, we end up using his commands in heavy-handed ways and imply
that God is
eager to find our faults and punish them.
When we teach the word of God while ignoring the grace and
compassion of
God, we end up acting in very ungodly ways.
To know what God is
really like,
you need to see the little, beautiful details.
Thanksgiving begins
when we see
the real God.
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