FROM THE DAWGHOUSE…
The Picture You’re Drawing of God
As Pastor Pete shared with us at Forge this week, every one of us is painting a picture of God with our lives. Not just with what we say, but with what we believe, how we respond, what we chase, what we fear, and what we trust.
So, the question isn’t if you have a view of God, it’s what kind of God you’re seeing.
Is He distant?
Demanding?
Disappointed?
Indifferent?
Transactional?
Or is He something else entirely?
Because here’s the truth: Your view of God will shape the man you are becoming.
If God is small in your mind, your obedience will be small.
If He is harsh, your faith will feel like pressure.
If He is unclear, your life will drift.
But if He is who He actually is, everything changes. And that’s where we run into a hard but freeing reality – We don’t get to draw the picture of God.
We don’t define Him.
We don’t edit Him.
We don’t reduce Him into something more comfortable or manageable.
“God” is not a projection of our preferences.
Left to ourselves, we will always distort Him, either softening His holiness or avoiding it altogether. We will either turn Him into a life coach or keep Him at a distance as a judge. But both miss Him.
So, if we can’t draw the picture… how do we see Him?
We see Him because God draws the picture for us, and He does it most clearly at the cross. The cross is not just a moment in history; it is the clearest revelation of who God is. Through Jesus’ penal substitutionary atonement (couldn’t resist using that), God shows us both His holiness and His love, without compromise. At the cross, we see that…
God is holy: sin is not ignored; it is paid for.
God is just: the penalty is real.
God is loving: He pays it Himself.
Not by overlooking sin.
Not by lowering the standard.
But by stepping in.
Jesus doesn’t just teach us about God, He reveals Him perfectly.
When we ask, “What is God like?”, we don’t look inward…we don’t look around…we look to Jesus Christ. And what we find there reshapes everything.
A God who is not safe but is good.
Not distant, but near.
Not passive, but purposeful.
Not changing, but completely trustworthy.
Which brings us to the quiet but defining response of a life that sees Him rightly: “Not my will, but yours be done.” That’s not resignation. That’s clarity. Because when you see God for who He truly is, surrender stops feeling like loss, and starts looking like the only reasonable response.
This week, take an honest look: What picture of God are you living from? Because whether you realize it or not…
That picture is shaping everything.
Joe Bouch
