Both
By
Lexi Cole Ellis
The Lord passed
in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! TheLord! The God of compassion and
mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and
faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive
iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of
the parents upon their children and grandchildren the entire family is affected
- - even children in the third and fourth generations.”
Exodus
34:6-7 (NLT)
Two songs were playing
on the radio. As I was switched back and forth between the two Christian radio
stations, one song proclaimed God’s love is like a waterfall while the other
declared God roaring like a lion. The polar
opposites made me smile as I envisioned the imagery… God’s love gushing over
like water falling but then God’s power synonymous with the commanding roar of
a lion. Both pictures are accurate from a theological standpoint.
So if
both are true, is there a contradiction? It seems like it. Or perhaps our minds
and our language wrestle with the idea that God can be both because of the
limits of our “human-ness.”
The
reality is, without both songs, I miss out if I focus on one attribute of God because
I don’t see the fullness of both (sometimes seemly incompatible)
characteristics. How easy it is to focus on the facets or statements of God I
like, and choose to ignore parts that show the opposite. I like the parts about
strength…but I’d rather ignore the part about serving. I like verses about
receiving…but do I have to see the “both” of giving to receive? [1] In the
verse above, it’s easier to focus exclusively on the compassionate and gracious
God, the one who forgives and loves. Verse seven talks about punishment for the
guilty and future generations’ experiencing the consequences of that sin. Hmmm…not
really a fan of that part. How can God be the God of both?
At the
end of the day, that’s where trust and faith comes in. While I am called into a
relationship with God, I am not His equal in understanding His ways and
His attributes. I resonate with what God says in Isaiah 55:8, “For my thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” (NIV)
Part
of being in an active and growing relationship with God means that we’re
willing to wrestle with the “both’s” that seem contradictory…and are willing to
trust when it doesn’t make sense. I’m thankful that flipping back and forth
between the two songs reminded me to stop ignoring the parts of Scripture that
I don’t naturally cling to and realize that the “both’s” reveal how incredibly
complete God is.
GOING
DEEPER:
1. What
are some of the characteristics of God that you tend to ignore?
2. What
parts of God’s “both” in Scripture do you need to address?
GOING
FURTHER:
Lexi and her husband, Andrew, have an adorable puppy named
Calvin. She teaches sixth grade at Silver Lake Intermediate School. Lexi serves
with Children’s Ministries and is the Fresh Start Coordinator.
