So the question is what does God see when He look at us, the epitome of His creation? But first, what do I see when I look at others? I don't want to put anybody in the spotlight, so I am going to look at Jacob, son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham. We see much of his actions in the Book of Genesis from chapter 25 through 32. The very meaning of the name Jacob is 'he who supplants', and the actions of Jacob shows that the name was tailor made for him. He tricked his brother Esau to sell him the right of the firstborn for some bread and lentil stew. He then deceived his father by disguising as Esau to get the blessing. Esau was really upset with Jacob upon hearing about the deception and wanted to kill him, so Jacob went to Haran, to his uncle Laban in hopes of marrying Rachel his daughter. He then gets betrayed by Laban and got Rachel's older sister Leah as his wife as a wage for serving Laban for seven years. He went on to serve another seven years as a price for Rachel also. In chapter 30, we get to see this soap opera involving Jacob, Leah and Rachel that ends with Jacob having kids from Leah, Rachel, Bilhah - the maidservant of Rachel, and Zilpah - the maidservant of Leah. Later we also see Jacob outwitting Laban by "cloning" sheep, and becoming exceedingly prosperous at the expense of Laban. He then fled from Haran back to the land of his ancestors, but not before looting Laban's household possession. To me, Jacob is a crook, a cheat and a thief; I don't want him anywhere near me, I know God hate people like that. Or is it?
Jacob's first encounter with God occurs while he is on the way to Haran after tricking his brother out of the firstborn's right and deceiving his father. "Then he had a dream: a stairway rested on the ground, with its top reaching to the heavens; and God's angels were going up and down on it" (Genesis 28:12). Jacob then sees God who, to my surprise, blessed Jacob by saying, "Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and through them you will spread to the west, and the east, to the north and the south" (Genesis 28:14). Huh??? God, but you know what he did to his brother and his elderly father! You know what he is going to do to his father-in-law in the future! And You blessed him? We can also see how God protects Jacob even when he is busy conning Laban and continue to bless him even when acts like an arrogant fool. This is a rather confusing behavior from God's part. So what am I missing here God, please help me understand.
When God looks at us, He is looking for the "good" He has created. But we are no longer that goodness that He created, evil has overtaken us, we are drowning in our sinful ways. But God knows the innocence is there somewhere within all of us. So He continuously watches the murderers, the thieves, the prostitutes, and the hypocrites (that is the me and the you). He knows all of us are destined to have a brief moment in our life, when we open up to the grace of God. That's what God is watching for, He doesn't want to miss out on that moment to reach in and take us back as His beloved possession. God didn't bless Jacob for any of his actions; just like us, Jacob too was undeserving of God's blessings. God blessed Jacob for the goodness that was going to come through him, just like God blesses us everyday hoping that, in His grace, we too would one day realize our potential. Jacob wrestled with God all his life until he was taken down - a dislocated hip as reward for his arrogance and stubbornness. We too struggle with God everyday, relentlessly resisting His attempts to reach us. Until we let go off our prideful ways, the grace of God will remain dormant in our lives.
We often talk about how God punishes us when we stray from Him, when we sin. I don't believe that is the case at all. Yes, there are repercussions for sins. But God's punishment for our sins won't come until after our death - He doesn't punish us for transgressions soon as we commit it. This is not because He couldn't see it - He sees everything, but He also patiently awaits for us to turn around. It hurts Him to see our sinful ways, but He also have faith in us - God always expects us to return to Him. So He continue to bless us and continue to care for us even when we turn our backs to Him. And all that hardships we face in this life, they are not punishment from God, rather gifts from the devil himself - rewards for our sinful ways. It is only a glimpse of a life without the saving grace of God.
It would be impossible for me to sit next to God and watch everything like He does - to see precious lives wasted away in the name of greed, selfishness, lust, and envy. I will get angry and reach for His scepter to strike everybody down right there and then; I don't have the patience or level of endurance like Him. We always look at others with suspicion, regardless whether he is familiar or strange. We look around as if the rest of world is onto us, trying to get us, so we try to get them first. When we deliberately try to find something wrong with somebody, guess what, we will always find it. God looks for the goodness in us and He doesn't quit when He encounter all the evil that we protrude. It is impossible to look at others like God does, but we could always look at others how we want to be looked at by others.
"But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;
and you overlook sins for the sake of repentance.
For you love all things that are
and loathe nothing that you have made;
for you would not fashion what you hate. (Wisdom 11:23,24)
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