Psalms 99:5
Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.

Are you living like God acts like you?

The word anthropomorphism comes from two Greek words, anthropos, meaning “man,” and morphe, meaning “form.” In theological terms, anthropomorphism is attributing human characteristics to the Almighty God. The Old and New Testaments describe God interacting with us by talking, holding, reaching, feeling, hearing, etc. You understand and relate to God’s actions and emotions in human terms. However, you have to be careful that you don’t go too far. Do you sometimes make the assumption you know what He is thinking because it is what you are thinking? Do you become anxious because you think He is going to “respond” to something you said or did like you would? What you have to remember is, He is God.

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should tell or act a lie, neither the son of man, that He should feel repentance or compunction [for what He has promised]. Has He said and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good? (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition)

If you humanize Him to the point that you treat Him as if human characteristics and thoughts limit Him, you remove His deity. What that means is, He is no longer omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He means is love, kindness, and mercy have boundaries. That is not the God your serve. You read the Bible, taking into consideration that you do not have the capacity to understand all of who God is, really.

Romans 11:33-34 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable (inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)! And how untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)!34 For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has understood His thoughts, or who has [ever] been His counselor? (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition AMPC)

You probably think the way you respond to things is the right way to respond, for the most part. You are not alone; most human beings do. Because of that, you may also think, given the same situation, most people will act how you do. The danger comes when you think that is true for God as well. Don’t give God your personality. As much as anthropomorphisms help you relate to God, you always have to remind yourself, He is still God.

Isaiah 55:8-9 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition AMPC)

Please spend time with Him in worship and prayer, then you will gain His perspective and find that it is not quite what yours is. What you do does not surprise Him; He is omniscient. He does not have to “step into” your disputes and debates over issues. He is there; He is omnipresent. Allow Him to manifest His involvement. You want to be connected to the Father and understand Him in order to live a life that honors Him. Acknowledge His power and His deity. Don’t humanize Him to where you remove His ability to help you. He made you in His image, not the other way around.

Please agree with me as I pray:

Father, there have been times when I felt anxious because of incidents and experiences in my life. Often the anxiety came from an interaction having a different outcome than I had expected. Maybe I was misunderstood, maybe I was misjudged, maybe I said or did something that I should not have. Whatever happened, the result caught me completely off guard. Then the torment would start. I would replay the encounter in my mind, over and over, to figure out what I should have done or what I should have said. I repent for every one of those times that I didn’t immediately come to You. You have shown me I did not come to You first because I had given You human characteristics. I decided I disappointed You. I decided I didn’t deserve to come to You because of what happened. I told myself You were mad at me. My God, Thank You for being You and for not acting like human beings act. I repent for dishonoring You with the thought. Regardless of how I have been treated, no matter what has been said to me and/or about me; You don’t condemn. You convict. I needed to know the difference, and You taught me. I will continue to remind myself, You’re not like me nor any other person. I’m thankful because nothing in my life catches You off guard or by surprise. I’m most grateful because You use every circumstance and every situation in my life to teach me, to equip me, to grow me up and make me better. Now I run to You…

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Ask the Lord what He wants to say to you about today’s devotional and journal His response as described here.