When God Doesn't Look the Way We Expected

If you're honest, there are probably parts of the Bible you like a lot more than others.

Today's Scripture: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." — Romans 3:23–24

Reflection:

We love grace. We love mercy. We love the image of Jesus with open arms. And we should — those are glorious truths. But here's the honest challenge: when we only embrace the parts of God that feel comfortable to us, we're not really worshipping God. We're worshipping a version of God we've designed to agree with us.

Yesterday we saw that Jacob held on through the struggle. But there's a reason most of us don't do that. It's hard. It's disorienting. When we sit with difficult passages — the ones about judgment, holiness, or God's wrath — we feel the tension. And the temptation is to soften it, skip it, or explain it away.

But here's what that costs us: a shallow faith. A faith built only on what feels good will crack the moment life gets hard. We need the full picture of who God is — the God of grace and holiness, of mercy and justice — because real life requires a real God.

The discomfort we feel when reading difficult Scripture isn't a sign we should stop. It's often a sign we're finally paying attention. And a God who is big enough to make us uncomfortable is big enough to carry us through anything.

Today's Application: The next time you feel resistance while reading Scripture, pause before moving on. Ask God: "What are you trying to show me here that I might be avoiding?"

A Closing Thought: God isn't threatened by your honest questions. He's waiting to meet you in them.