I’ve always wondered what God was like. What does he think? How does he live? Throughout the Old Testament, we discover who he is; he’s the one and only true God. We also discover what he’s done; he’s the creator of the heavens, the earth and everything in it. But what is he like? For thousands of years, the answer to this question was a complete mystery. But two thousand years ago, God entered our world and now we have a better picture of what God is like?

The problem for many is that their perception of God has been dictated by their experiences and circumstances. Some grew up in a legalistic system and every time things go wrong they think that God is punishing them because of their sins. Others were brought up with a more liberal perception of God. They tend to be more impersonal; they go to church on Christmas and Easter but live their lives with little to no relationship with God. We all have our own concept of God, but if anyone could tell us what God is really like, that would be Jesus, the Son of God.

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father.”  – Jesus (John 14: 9 NIV)

Presently, although none of us have seen Jesus, the truth is that we have a better understanding of what God is like because he entered our world. And one of the things we learn is that pain and suffering are not God’s divine punishment. For thousands of years, people believed that pain and suffering was always a direct result of having sinned against God. But on one occasion Jesus and his disciples came across a man who had been born blind, and his disciples asked him, “who’s fault is it that he was born blind? Is this the result of his parent’s sins or his own sins?” Jesus answered, “You’re asking the wrong question, you’re looking for someone to blame instead of looking for what God wants to do”.

Now we know that God’s concern is not who sinned and caused the pain and suffering in our lives, God is not running around looking for someone to blame. Instead, he’s concerned with using the difficult circumstances in our lives as an opportunity to demonstrate how much he cares about and loves us.