God is three people: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Together they make up the person of God. The focus here will be on the characteristics of the person of God that will empower you to a lifestyle of confident effective productive recovery. In William P. Young’s book, The Shack (2007), he writes that when we do not trust God and lack confidence in Him, it is because we do not believe that He loves us. It’s not that we don’t believe in God. It’s not that we don’t believe in the power and authority of God. It’s not what we believe in what God can do. We may believe in the power and authority of God and yet still not trust Him or be confident in our faith. The issue is what we do or don’t believe that God will do. We do not have confidence in what God will do because we struggle so to believe that God loves us.
- If God does and will love you, why would He not bless you?
- If God does and will love you, why would He not provide for you?
- If God does and will love you, why would He not forgive you?
- If God does and will love you, why would He not heal you?
There is the tendency to believe that if God is about justice at all, he cannot possibly forgive this thing or that thing. Ultimately, we struggle to believe that God altogether loves us. What it comes down to is the realization that I do not altogether love me. If I were God, I wouldn’t forgive me; I wouldn’t bless me. Yet it is in your nature to continually crave satisfaction in whatever form it takes, so you remain stuck in the dissatisfaction of not getting what you want, even you realize that you are unworthy to have it and do not deserve it. Thank God, God is not you. God is God and He loves and forgives and blesses and provides and heals according to His desires and standard for justice.
God says, “Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity.” The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts. For I will not fight against you forever; I will not always be angry. If I were, all people would pass away— all the souls I have made. I was angry, so I punished these greedy people. I withdrew from them, but they kept going on their own stubborn way. I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them. I will comfort those who mourn, bringing words of praise to their lips. May they have abundant peace, both near and far,” says the Lord, who heals them. “But those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt. There is no peace for the wicked,” says my God. Isaiah 57:14-21 (NLT)
NLX 101 helps participants to look into the true personality of God through challenging questions concerning how this passage from Isaiah applies to their perceptions of God as it relates to His involvement in their daily life experience. It takes the questions above and carefully examines why it is that they may not be experiencing God’s blessing, provision, mercy, and healing and deliverance in their everyday lives.