Mean-Mugging God

Have you ever seen a baby with a mean mug on their face? It usually happens when they don’t get their way right away, if at all. They scrunch up their little foreheads, produce the poutiest pout, cross their little arms, and mean mug whoever dares to come close. It’s their go-to because they don’t have the language to communicate their feelings effectively. If you have a sense of humor, you’ve probably laughed at the sight of it, whether you’ve seen it online or in person.

My imagination is a bit unhinged, so I picture God with His own little mobile device, scrolling through His children’s portfolios, checking out their dispositions...and I imagine Him coming across more than a few disgruntled expressions toward Him. I imagine Him shaking His head, laughing, and continuing to scroll.

But then I remember, God resists the proud.

God. Resists. The Proud.

The proud are arrogant, unwilling to submit to God, rejecting His correction, self-reliant instead of God-dependent, believing their way is better than His way. Haughty; exalting themselves above Him and His ways. God opposes those people. He resists them. He resists their pride.

James 4:6 (NKJV): "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

I remember being angry at God. I yelled at Him and warned Him to leave me alone. I told the God of heaven, Creator of the universe, to leave me alone...and He did. For a long time, too. I didn’t like His rebuke to me. I disagreed with His correction. At the time, I didn’t feel like I had done anything wrong to deserve the discipline I was receiving from Him. I thought my way of thinking was better than whatever God had come up with.

It wasn’t until I humbled myself before Him and asked Him to forgive me and help me that He gave me His perspective and helped me understand. He loved me enough to bring me to a place of humility. To continue in that staunch pride would have been detrimental to my walk, to my relationship with Him. It exposed my heart and revealed that the satisfaction of my flesh and its comforts was more important to me than God’s instructions. The posture of my heart was opposed to Him. I was mean mugging our Heavenly Father.

Now, to be clear, God is incredibly...immeasurably patient. He knows we’re foolish and weak. We need Him. His ways are better. But He also knows the process. He knows how to wring out the pride in us. He knows how to wait us out until we submit. He didn’t rush in to convince me how good of a Father He was while I sat in my puddle of pride. He waited for me to remember the truth of who He is and that He knows what’s best for me. That He’s not "out to get me" or keep good things from me. He knows what good is, even when I don’t see it that way. God’s pace is not our pace. His "no" comes from an all-knowing, all-seeing perspective. His thoughts are not our thoughts. And His ways are so much higher than ours. We can actually rest in that and accept the peace that comes with it.

There’s a difference between being honest with God about being angry with Him and His movements versus being prideful and disrespectful toward Him in our times of disappointment. Be honest, and remain humble. He gives grace to the humble. He’ll give you the grace to get through what you’re feeling and what you’re experiencing.

Uncross your arms. Un-pout your face. And respectfully tell God how you feel. Communicate. Commune with Him.