Rage against a Benevolent God

By: Carole L. Haines 

Rage against a Benevolent God. This is the phrase that greeted me in my head this morning as I began to move about. I was thinking about something I often say to others when discussing the prevalent societal push-back we get nowadays when talking about God. What I always say, and what I truly believe is, “If people really knew God as He actually is, as He defines Himself in Scripture; they would fall at His feet in grateful worship.” 
God demonstrated who He actually is, when He came down to earth in human flesh through Jesus.  
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) 

Full of grace and truth, why would anyone rage against that? 

Grace is defined as  
goodwill, lovingkindness and favor. That which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness 
Truth is defined as  
what is true in any matter under consideration. 

I know this is a very deep and wide issue, discussed relentlessly amongst intellectuals and theologians. I am certainly neither of those. But I guess it all comes down to your decision of who has the final authority in what guides your life.   
God defines Himself as being full of goodwill, lovingkindness and favor. He also defines Himself as a Jealous and avenging God, passionately protecting and pursuing The People He loves (Nahum, Chapter 1).  He reveals Himself to be holy, blameless, just, faithful, loving, tender, joyfully giving us songs to sing in the night (Job 35:10).  He is our hiding place, surrounding us with songs of deliverance (Psalm 32:7).  
There are many hundreds of names, titles and descriptions of God throughout the Scriptures. He is endlessly wonderful to know and be known to. God is the joy of my life and I have walked with Him for almost 50 years now.  
So, Believers, rejoice in His Wonderfulness. And precious unbelievers, take a deeper, longer more truthful look at who God defines Himself to be. Open up your hearts, open up the Scriptures, open up your minds and be willing to take a chance that maybe, just maybe, you’ve got it wrong. Eternity hangs in the balance. 
So let us all take a deeper look before we rage against this Benevolent God.