The Hero Paradox

Have you ever stopped to consider our relationship to God through the eyes of humility? I'm not gonna lie, it's extremely difficult, and rarely - if ever - am I able to seriously consider God in this manner. But I was reading Psalm 7 the other day and was hit with a club over the top of my head for the stupidity that I often call knowledge. I've read Psalm 7 before and I'm sure I liked it, but on this occasion, this instance, I was struck with God's incredibly different, but similar nature to us.

I wrote about the image of God on a separate occasion, so I will not continue to discuss that topic; however I find it necessary to bring up the image of God, because that is how we were created - to be with Him, with commonalities that draw us close. It's similar to other relationships in life. There has to be a link that draws people together. Even considering Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, and Howard in The Big Bang Theory shows that relationships require at least one link: Leonard. We were made with similarities to God for the purpose of attracting us to Him.

Those similarities are often the things that seem to separate us from Him as well. Take Psalm 7:4 - "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" God has given us a great responsibility and joy as his children, but as we consider the converse, how many of us are mindful of God? Do we, as His children, pay attention to Him because we love Him or because He gives us what we want? Do we see God as a loving and admonishing Father or as a Grandfather that we go to when we want candy?

Thus we see the Hero Paradox. God created us, nurtured us, forgave us, saved us, and and redeemed us, but we consider ourselves to be the hero. We puff ourselves up as if we've done something great. Have you considered that God was the One to give you your talent? Have you considered that God was the One to create you, guide you, and give you insight into life's mysteries? At what point were we ever the hero? Unfortunately it is only in our mind's eye.

Psalm 7:5, "You made [man] a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor," is not said to promote us, but rather the mighty and awesome power of God. Psalm 7:6, "You made him ruler over the wors of your hands; You put everything under his feet," is not talking about our power, but rather God's.

So if we are going to continue to be God's children, I think we need to consider Him a little bit more than ourselves during our daily reflections. "God forgive me, because I failed again" repeated five times is not thinking about God. Ask for His forgiveness and then move on to how awesome and wonderful He is. Enjoy Him for who He is, not what He gives. He is the true Hero and should be treated with all the reverence and respect that His title deserves.