The Character of God

When we know the character of God it will help us to rest in confident assurance during times of trial. It will help us to understand his will for us. It will encourage us in knowing what he thinks and feels about us. It will equip us for the journey.

We are told in Malachi 3:6 that God does not change. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). God’s character does not change based upon circumstance or what is occurring in the world. If you are struggling with sickness that does not change the truth that God is Jehovah Rapha – The Lord who heals. If you are feeling overlooked this does not change the truth that God is El Roi – The God who sees. In knowing the truth this can help us to know that God’s will for us is healing, that he really sees us and never overlooks us. This can help to put our mind at rest. Instead of worrying or looking out into the world for signs that we are seen, we look to God knowing he sees us and so we no longer need to look to the outside world for validation.

There is a reel I saw on Instagram where Brené Brown says,

“Don’t walk through the world looking for evidence that you don’t belong because you will always find it. Don’t walk through the world looking for evidence that you’re not enough because you will always find it. Our worth and our belonging are not negotiated with other people.”

Brené goes on to say,

There will be times when standing alone feels too hard, too scary and we’ll doubt our ability to make it through the uncertainty. Someone, somewhere will say “Don’t do it, you don’t have what it takes to survive the wilderness.” This is when you reach deep into your wild heart and remind yourself. I am the wilderness.

This quote revealed to me that we should not be looking to the world around us to tell us who we are. (Something I had been doing for much of my life). We should look to God and let Him tell us who we are. We don’t need to build our lives on a love from the world that changes with circumstance and is often affected by the opinions of others. We should build our lives on a love that is unconditional and never changes. We can accept into our hearts the love from God through Jesus that will never change. When you receive this love into your heart you carry yourself differently. Others opinions don’t have the same effect and can’t bring you down into a shame spiral any more. When you can fully grasp how loved you are by the one who created you, that will always be more than enough. You will stop seeking to be loved and seen by those around you. You will find that the right people then come to you. Others who do truly see you and can see within you who God created you to be. They fully support you and champion you in your calling. I have witnessed this in my own life. When I could finally lay down seeking approval from others or looking to others to tell me who I was and if I was worthy of love. I received all of that from God and accepted myself for who I was. I found that my life became so much richer because of the people God brought to me. I’m no longer concerned with overthinking about whether people like me or not. My first concern is am I being who God created me to be, am I following the lead of the Holy Spirit. There will be people who don’t like me and as long as I have been true to myself, authentic and the best version of me that I can be, I can let them not like me. It isn’t going to ruin my day.

Of course there are so many other characteristics of God that all have a positive impact on our life when we truly know and understand who He is. We can go through personal experiences which reveal this to us and we can learn more the deeper the relationship we have with God.

When I had my first miscarriage and I received a Word of Knowledge from a lady in our church at the time who told me what name I had chosen for the baby. This revealed to me that God sees me, the one who often felt not worthy of anyone’s time, I was special enough to God for him to speak to me that day. Following this God gave me the gift of knowing when someone was pregnant before they had told anyone else. I believe this was God preparing my heart. He knew what I was going through and how I was feeling. I had been diagnosed with secondary infertility and was praying for a sibling for our son. God knew how I would receive news in the moment that it was announced. This is how God looked out for me, he gave me a gift so that I wouldn’t be blind-sided. I could prepare my heart ahead of time. This experience taught me that God sees me. He sees the tears that you cry in private when no-one else is around. He cares for you and wants to comfort you. He desires for you to share it all with him and invite him in.

The characteristics of God reveal who He is to us. I won’t go in depth to explain the following verses, but in your own personal study time look through these verses and others you may come across and let Holy Spirit reveal to you more of who God is. This is by no means exhaustive, the more we study the bible and the closer we get to God the more we will come to know his character.

Exodus 34:6-7 / Deuteronomy 7:9 / Psalm 100:5 / Psalm 145:8-9 / Psalm 145:17 / Lamentations 3:22-23 / 1 Corinthians 13 / 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 / James 1:17 / 1 John 4:16

Along with these characteristics of God there are also many names God has been given throughout the bible that also give an understanding of who he is. Again, this is not an exhaustive list but helps to to gain a deeper understanding of God’s character and all that we receive and have access to on accepting his Son into our hearts and choosing to live our lives for Him.

Yahweh / Jehovah – “LORD”

El Roi – “God who sees” Genesis 16:13

Jehovah Jireh – “The LORD will provide” Genesis 22:14

Jehovah Rapha – “The LORD who heals” Exodus 15:26

Jehovah Nissi – “The LORD our banner” Exodus 17:15

Jehovah M’Kaddesh – “The LORD who sanctifies” Exodus 31:13

Jehovah Shalom – “The LORD our peace” Judges 6:24

Jehovah Tsidkenu – “The LORD our righteousness” Jeremiah 23:6

Jehovah Rohi – “The LORD our shepherd” Psalm 23:1

Jehovah Shammah – “The LORD is there” Ezekiel 48:35

Jehovah Saboath – “The LORD of hosts” 1 Samuel 1:3

The reason I write LORD in capitals is that throughout the word when you see the word LORD in capitals it means God. When you see the word Lord and only the “L” is capital it means Jesus.

All of these characteristics and names of God are who he is. So it is not just that he gives love, he IS love. It is not just that he offers peace, he IS peace and so on.

I pray that as you continue in your relationship with God that more and more of his character will be revealed to you. This will increase your discernment in knowing his will for you. In being able to see if the things you are seeing and hearing are from God or not. You will be able to stand against the tools and tricks of the enemy because you will know the character and therefore motive behind it. It all comes down to knowing our true identity in Jesus, understanding who God is and walking through this life in tune with the Holy Spirit. We will not be free from trouble, you will be a target for the enemy but you are much less likely to become ensnared when you know God’s heart towards you.

Many Blessings.