Who is God to You?

If someone were to ask you what roles God plays in your life, what would you tell them? Would it be Savior? Friend? Father? All of the above? What about all His other titles? God has His roles, but so do we. We are used to playing a handful of roles in people’s lives, as they also do for us. Your dad might hold the role of father, provider, protector, teacher, and friend. If you have a solid father figure in your life, the list might continue, but eventually that list would end. Each role your dad plays would not be perfectly executed, nor would the roles he plays be equal in strength. Your dad might excel as a provider, but fall short in the friend or encourager role. For some of you, perhaps your dad holds no role, and never did.

God’s Roles in Your Life

But God has exponentially more roles than any person in your life, and He fulfills each one perfectly. God is a perfect Father, Son, Spirit, Creator, Bridegroom, Friend, Teacher, Savior, King, Judge, High Priest, Counselor, Comforter, Encourager, Healer, Provider, Protector, and more (seriously, this list could go on forever).

The roles that God holds are not only available, but He delights in being there for us. He desires to be our everything. He desires to be our source of help, of hope, of life. God describes us, the Body of Christ, as His bride, and Him as our bridegroom because He wants to be one with us, and loves us more than any person or group of people can. He literally is perfect for us.

The Consequence of Limited Understanding

Because we are limited in our understanding of who God is, we often fail to rely on Him for the roles we don’t know He can fulfill. As an example, let’s say that you are a student in school. You’ve gotten to know your teacher over the past six months or so because of stories that he’s told you, and through his interactions with the class. You’ve learned that he has three kids, is trained in combat, and is great at being a mediator during conflicts.

Through this, you know of four roles that he holds:

1. Teacher
2. Father
3. Protector
4. Mediator

One day, you and your friend arrive early for class before any other student gets there. Your teacher is inside the classroom but has the door shut. While standing outside the classroom, your friend starts choking on a piece of food and begins to turn blue. You’re not sure how to do CPR and have never been put in this situation before. You try to recall what CPR has looked like on videos, but nothing you’re doing is working. Your friend passes out, and you’re now paralyzed with fear. Unless someone steps in, your friend is probably going to die.

If Only You Had Asked

What you didn’t know, is that your teacher, who is just inside the room you’ve been standing outside of, is medically trained. He knows precisely what to do, and has the capability of saving your friend. In fact, had you immediately gone to him and told him what was happening, your friend would have never passed out. Later, you’re going to wonder why you didn’t think to ask him to try to help, instead of trying to do it on your own.

Though this is an extreme example, it communicates two things:

1. When we are unaware of someone’s role or abilities, we won’t know that we can rely on them for that role.

2. Though sometimes we are not aware of another’s role, it usually doesn’t hurt to ask and find out for certain.

The Struggle is Real

There are many things that God will do, and roles He wants to hold in each of our lives. For some of them we learn to rely on Him, while others prove to be more of a struggle. And sometimes, we are simply unaware that He even offers to perform certain roles. If you have a need right now and are unsure if God can help, ask Him.

Unlike the teacher, God doesn’t need to be informed of a need before He fulfills it. He knows our needs before we ever think to ask, but knowing He can fulfill it is what drives us to draw closer to Him and depend on Him, instead of on ourselves or others.

God desires that we learn who He is, and depend on Him for everything we need, because He’s the only one who can perfectly meet those needs. It can be so easy to walk through life and try to do it all on our own, or rely on other humans to do what God has already offered to do for us. Because of this, we can end up feeling confused, defeated, unfulfilled, and scrambling for solutions.

Learn Who God Is

My encouragement for you today is to learn who God says He is, and to pray that He would increase your faith to believe it. If you struggle seeing Him as a healer, study the scriptures of Him as a healer. If you have difficulty looking to God as a good, loving father, then meditate on the scriptures that describe Him as such, and pray that your heart will open to His love. Make it your goal every day to know God more; then watch as He meets your needs and fills the empty places in your life! “My God will richly fill your every need in a glorious way through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19, GW).

*Are you wanting to grow in God’s Word daily but struggle making it a habit? Learn three simple keys to help HERE