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The Fierceness of God

by Jerry Ousley  
10/11/2013 / Christian Living

I suppose I do watch a lot of movies. There's one thing in many of them that I have never really understood. You know the scene; the person gets extremely angry over something that normally involves other people. They have gotten mad at their wife or husband, or a sibling has done something the individual can do nothing about, or a friend is tragically killed; it could be a host of things because we people are at times extremely emotional creatures. In their anger they sweep everything off their desk, or throw a lamp breaking it; or they take their hand and knock all the pictures off the shelf. Whatever it happens to be, in their anger they destroy things.

I've never really understood that, because, frankly, I've worked too hard for those things and a fit of anger can wipe out a lot of that hard earned value if one isn't careful. However, I did break a glass once. It wasn't really a glass but a cup made of clear plastic. It was the last in a set Deb and I had purchased when we got married. Over the years wear and tear had taken its toll on that set of cups and as I said this was the last one. I was drinking water, or juice or something and had finished it, so the cup was empty. She and I were in the middle of a heated disagreement (come on now, most couples have those from time to time). I became so angry that I threw that empty cup. It hit our carpeted floor and to my utter amazement, that plastic cup shattered. I was sorry about that because it marked the end of a set of mementos from our marriage, but it did help to end our heated discussion. That was the first and the last time I threw something out of anger. Folks I guess I'm just too stingy to destroy something that cost us hard earned bucks just because I was mad.

In Nahum 1:6 we read a verse that tells us about the fierceness of God. It says, "Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him." We would rather think of God as a loving Father who understands us and forgives us; and He does. But God is also fierce. He doesn't throw fits of anger like we do and His actions are always justified. But stop and think for a moment what would happen if the most powerful force in the universe suddenly lost it in a fit of anger in a single word He could destroy everything He has created, including us.

Reading the Old Testament will reveal many such words about the anger of God. Had it been any of us having to put up with the disobedience of the people of Israel we would have wiped them off the face of the earth centuries ago. God gave them special favor. They were (and still are) His chosen people. He told them that once they were in the Land of Promise that if they would only obey Him, worship Him, and be faithful to Him, that they would have rest from their enemies and one day would see a time when there was no poverty in their land, no sickness, no disease none of those things that plague every nation that has ever been or ever will be. They came close to that time under the reign of Solomon. But they never completely arrived because frankly, they could not fulfill their end of the bargain. They would sin, worship false gods, and turn away from the great and mighty Jehovah. Once they realized the consequences of their actions they would come slinking back and God would patiently receive them. He did this over and over again. It finally came to the place where He allowed them to be overcome by their enemies and they were scattered in various nations in captivity. But God always brought them back. Why? Because He loved them.

God can be fierce. But we need to realize that just like with the nation of Israel, His fierce actions are also graces. He will allow us to come to a place where we are forced to learn how good we had it with Him. He will let our disobediences slide for a time, but ultimately we will pay the consequences of our sinful actions. But just as with Israel, those consequences will teach us lessons we will never forget. Once we have learned our lesson then the fierceness of God is replaced with His love, mercy and grace. He is so good to us; why would we ever want to serve any old false god who could never offer that?

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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