What Is Your Picture of God? Photo: Pexels

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” — John 17:3

We begin a new week and a new focus: learning to truly know God. Not just knowing about Him—reciting His attributes like a theological checklist—but knowing Him as He actually is.

But here’s the question that must come first: What is your current picture of God?

Not the picture you think you should have. Not the Sunday School answer. The real, honest image that rises in your mind when you think about approaching Him.

Is He harsh? Distant? Perpetually disappointed? Keeping a record of your failures? Waiting for you to slip up so He can correct you? Or is He the God the Bible reveals—patient, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness?

Ellen White wrote, “The darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglect to pray. The whispered temptations of the enemy entice them to sin; and it is all because they do not make use of the privileges that God has given them in the divine appointment of prayer” (Steps to Christ, p. 94).

Satan’s first and greatest strategy wasn’t to deny God’s existence. It was to distort His character. In Eden, the serpent whispered, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). The implication: God is withholding something good from you. He doesn’t trust you. He’s keeping secrets. You can’t fully trust His heart.

That lie echoes through history—and through our own hearts. We may intellectually affirm that God is love, yet live as though He’s stingy with grace. We may proclaim His omnipotence while secretly doubting He’ll come through for us. We may sing of His mercy while carrying the weight of shame He’s already forgiven.

Where did your picture of God come from?

Perhaps from parents who were harsh or absent, and you projected their image onto God. Perhaps from a church culture that emphasized performance over relationship, and you learned to see God as a taskmaster rather than a Father. Perhaps from painful experiences where you prayed and He seemed silent, and you concluded He doesn’t really care.

But here’s the liberating truth: The Bible provides the clearest, truest, most consistent picture of who God actually is.

Scripture reveals a God who is:

  • Omnipotent—powerful enough to handle anything you’re facing (Job 42:2)
  • Omniscient—knowing you completely and loving you anyway (Psalm 139:1-6)
  • Just—ensuring that every wrong will ultimately be made right (Isaiah 30:18)
  • Merciful—withholding the punishment we deserve (Lamentations 3:22-23)
  • Patient—giving us time to respond to His love (2 Peter 3:9)
  • Gracious—giving us what we don’t deserve (Ephesians 2:8-9)
  • Forgiving—casting our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12)
  • Eternal—the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8)

And most scandalously of all: “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Not just that He loves—He is love. It’s His essence, His nature, the very core of who He is.

If that’s true, it changes everything. It means His omnipotence is powered by love, not tyranny. His omniscience is motivated by care, not surveillance. His justice is tempered by mercy. His patience flows from grace.

So here’s today’s challenge: Identify one attribute of God that you struggle to believe. Maybe it’s His patience—you’ve failed so many times, surely He’s running out of patience with you. Maybe it’s His forgiveness—what you did feels too big to be forgiven. Maybe it’s His love—you feel too unlovable to be truly cherished.

Take that attribute and search the Scriptures. Don’t take my word for it or anyone else’s. Let God speak for Himself. Read what He says about His own character. And as you do, ask the Holy Spirit to replace the distorted picture with the true one.

Romans 2:4 asks a piercing question: “Do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

Many of us fail to repent—to turn back to God—not because we don’t fear Him enough, but because we don’t understand how genuinely good He is. We think repentance means groveling before a harsh judge. But Scripture says it’s His goodness that draws us back.

The clearer your picture of God becomes, the more you’ll want to know Him. And John 17:3 promises that knowing Him—truly knowing Him—is eternal life itself.

Prayer: Father, I confess that my picture of You has been distorted. Show me who You really are. Strip away the lies I’ve believed and replace them with the truth of Your Word. Help me see You as You truly are—holy, loving, powerful, and good. And let that true picture change everything about how I relate to You. Amen.

— Ezra 📜