Not Safe, but Good

In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, one of the characters, Mr. Beaver – which, if you’ve never read or seen this, is an actual beaver – tells the Pevensie children about Aslan, a character in the story who is symbolic of Jesus. In one of the book’s more famous quotes, Mr. Beaver says, “Safe? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” 

So many people have this idea that God is little more than a happy grandfather up in the clouds smiling down on us, loving and forgiving everybody no matter what we do. This is an inaccurate picture. While it is true that God loves us more and better than we could ever imagine, and that He is mighty to save and stands ready to forgive, God is just, He is holy, and He hates sin. He has been that way since before time began, and just because our society and our views may have changed, God has not. He is the one constant. 

Micah 7 gives us a full picture of God. The Bible says here in verse 17, “they shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds; they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God, and they shall be in fear of you.” Pretty startling stuff. But it continues in the next 2 verses: “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

In these verses, we see a stark contrast. People are afraid of God, trembling, turning to Him in dread. But then we see that He pardons iniquity and passes over our transgressions. We see a God who “does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.” He is a God of compassion, who will “cast our sins into the depths of the sea.” When we are helpless, He alone is our help. This is the God we serve today. He isn’t safe. But He’s good. 

The same is true of Jesus. Scripture describes Him not just as a gentle lamb but as a mighty lion. The Jesus who came to the earth and healed the sick and forgave sins and didn’t speak a word against His accusers when they unjustly crucified Him is the same Jesus who will one day return in power, strength, and might to defeat Satan, fight the battle of Armageddon, and take His rightful place as King and Lord over all creation. 

So what do we do with this? Well, I’m not giving you this picture so that you’ll be afraid of God. We don’t need to be frightened of Him, because He loves us and will forgive us of anything we may have done. No, we don’t need to be afraid of the Lord, but it is vital to have a full and accurate picture of God, and we need to respect Him. So many people only have one side of the picture. They either think God is judgmental and hates everyone or that He is so loving that there are no sins and no consequences when we go against Him. Both are inaccurate. God is loving, but He is also just. He is righteous, and as such, the only way to have a restored relationship with Him is through the righteousness of His Son, who never sinned and gave His life as a sacrifice to perfect us (Hebrews 10:14).

So remember who God is. The God who pronounced judgment and punishment in the Old Testament is the same God who sent His only Son in love to free us from all of our sins. Everything He does, He does out of love. Even if we don’t like or understand what God does, we can know and trust that He is good. But don’t think He’s safe. God’s gonna ask you to do stuff you don’t want to do, things you don’t think you can do. But if you don’t know Him, turn to Him today. He is a God of compassion and steadfast love, and in Jesus, you can be a recipient of that amazing love and step into the life that He has for you.