A MISREPRESENTED GOD

It was a nice sunny afternoon and I couldn’t help but make use of the free gift of warmth. This was more like a gateaway for me.

See, for most of the month, I have been locked up in my room studying. I have deadlines to meet, important meetings to attend, a major exam to prepare for and most of all, my peace to guard.

Owing to all the mental fatigue, I decided to take a break and bask outside the house. Unknown to me, my nine year old sister was having her friends over for a play date.
As I wandered away in my moment of freedom, I heard the footsteps of tiny feet across the compound. On lifting my wearied head, my eyes were met with the eyes of a pretty young lady.

She must have been around ten years. Before I opened my mouth to utter a warm “hello”, she dashed off as if she was contending for her safety. I didn’t pay much thought to that. She might have had important things to attend to.

About thirty seconds in after that mini encounter, I hear a loud shout from outside, “Guys, I just saw Kelly’s (not her name) big sister. She’s so scary. She doesn’t even talk to people.”
I was stunned. Perplexed to say the least.

She was talking about me; a temporarily silent girl minding her own business at the comfort of her father’s house.

Was this the most that the little lady could get from a short encounter with a jovial soul like me?

This was a plain case of misrepresentation. Her words stuck in the ears of her peers; most of whom were not known to me. It was her word against mine. Her words had already won before mine could be conceived in my mind.

To think this was my first encounter with this young lady. Her description of who I was was news to me as much as it was news to her little friends. The pain of being misrepresented. Moreso, by a stranger.

Well, tell me the truth! You have been misrepresented one too many times.

Remember the time when they called you stingy yet you were just a person trying to make ends meet with your fixed budget and limited income?

What about the time when they thought you were arrogant yet you were just frustrated by circumstances? Things were too hard for you to comprehend.

Maybe those happened too far back.

Well, do you remember when they called you what you were not?

When they labelled you.

When they tarnished your image.

Ruined your reputation.

If you asked me, aside from us, GOD would be one of those who wonder too many times about how He is highly misrepresented.

Right about now, I should be pulling out scripture. I know you are looking forward to this. Okay, here it goes:

And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord .” Job 1:21 NKJV

These are the words are spoken by Job; a man who suddenly loses everything he owns. The question is, was God really responsible for taking away from Job? He sure says that it was God. But was it really God?

Earlier in the chapter, we are told how Satan sought audience with God and afterwards went ahead to inflict Job. In Job 1:6-12, scripture shows how Satan was behind Job’s pain. God did not inflict Job.

Well, this would be hard to believe if you are used to singing songs that go in the lines of, “You give and take away, blessed be the name of the Lord…”

Just stick with me for a second. I have a point.

If you read through the book of Job, you would notice that he ends up lamenting about many things and his emotions lead him to say some things that are not necessarily true. He is not fully making reference to the truth. He is speaking from his emotions. As a result, his words need to be construed in light of the context.

For instance, in chapter 21 verse 15, he goes ahead to ask, “Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? What would we gain by praying to Him?” Did you see that? As a believer, would you quote such a statement in reference to God? Assuming your answer is “no”, I would like to remind you that the statement is in the Bible. The reason why you would not quote it is because it does not represent who God truly is. God is worthy of all our praise and adoration. It is an honour to serve Him. Further, we gain a lot by praying to Him. Prayer is our place of communion, making our requests known to Him as well as making power available. Job is however asking whether there really is a point in prayer.

Now, do you see why it would not be a good idea to think that God “gives and takes away” just because Job said it? Well, God gives. I’ll tell you what He gives in a moment . On taking away, Job is talking about his property, the lives of his children and his health. Is this really what God takes away?

Well, let’s look at scripture:

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. -John 10:10 NKJV

Now, John 10:10 gives us the “job description” of both God and Satan. (see what I did there?)
I’d like us to relate both Satan’s and God’s “job description” with the life of Job. Scripture shows us that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. All of Job’s property was stolen. Job’s children were killed. Job’s body was destroyed because of the disease that almost took him out. Does this sound like God’s doing according to John 10:10?

Okay, let’s proceed with God’s “job description”. Scripture says that He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. Again, scripture.

And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Job 42:10 NKJV

Did you see that? God restored to Job. He gave into him. In fact, His giving was abundant; double what he had before.

I have walked with you through an instance where God was misrepresented. He gave into Job abundantly. He did not take from Him. Contrary to what Job thought.

Some of us believe in some wrong things about God just because He has been misrepresented to us.

Sometimes we give a wrong diagnosis to situations and end up blaming God for something that He did not do.

Sometimes the devil deceives us into believing that God is a certain way yet he isn’t. Remember the story of Adam and Eve? The devil led them to believe that God had withheld the best things from them. On the contrary, He had given them the very best. The devil lied about God’s intention towards them.

Some of us have been taught wrongly. Others have been exposed to religion which does not point us to the knowledge of Christ.

Even as you introspect, I pray that you shall allow God to reintroduce Himself to you. Maybe, just maybe… The God that you think you know is not really who God truly is.

Go and Breath Hope to a generation, won’t you?

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Until next time.

SHALOM🌸