How do you think about God?

Do you think of Him as sitting up in Heaven judging you constantly? Punishing you?

Friends, please hear me. Hear my heart on this. Yes, God is holy. He's perfect, just, righteous. He's powerful.

And He does punish His children when necessary (even though, many times, what we consider punishment is actually just the consequence of our own sinful actions...but that's a post for another day).

But here's the thing. He's also loving. So, so loving. And patient, and kind, and forgiving, and faithful.

When the Israelites of the Old Testament sinned against Him over and over, He always forgave them when they cried out to Him. He always rescued them.

Even though they continued to deny Him repeatedly. Even though they didn't deserve His love or His grace.

But neither do I.

And yet...

And yet, He continues to love me, to show me mercy after mercy after mercy. To provide for me.

In Judges 10, the Israelites are once again crying out to God after being disobedient. He first tells them, basically, to look to the other gods they've been serving for help.

But then, the Bible says, "He could bear Israel's misery no more."

HE COULD BEAR THEIR MISERY NO MORE.

Let that sink in for a minute. God loves us so much that he can't bear our pain.

He gives us free will (again, another post for another day), but His desire is that every single person come to know and have a relationship with Him.

The God of the entire universe wants a relationship with me. With you.

And He can't bear your misery.