God as Tyrant

Seamstresses by Frank Holl

“While I regarded God as a tyrant I thought my sin a trifle; But when I knew Him to be my Father, then I mourned that I could ever have kicked against Him. When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so, and sought my good.” C. H. Spurgeon

LINK: SLAVES OF THE NEEDLE

6 responses to “God as Tyrant”

Eileen says:

January 11, 2017 at 4:00 am

Can really relate to this one. When ,my father died at 52, I was really angry with God. Being angry with God at my age then wasn’t very comfortable. It felt safer to stop believing in God. Five years later I experienced His love in Jesus and though I am by nature a doubting Thomas, I have never stopped believing in that Love.

LikeLike

Reply
- Adrienne Morris says:
  
  January 11, 2017 at 11:10 am
  
  Thanks for sharing that, Eileen. Yes, I’ve spent most of my life believing in the tyrant, trickster God–certainly not the one pictured in the Bible or in Jesus!
  Why did it take me so long to read the source material? Maybe God wants us to truly see what doesn’t work so we can finally embrace was does. 🙂
  
  Didn’t you find it hard to stop believing? What a void there is!
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
Eileen says:

January 11, 2017 at 4:02 am

PS l Love the colors and contrasts and mood of this painting….very much like Rembrandt. Glad to learn about this artist.

LikeLike

Reply
- Adrienne Morris says:
  
  January 11, 2017 at 11:10 am
  
  I love the mood, too.It’s usually how I feel if I have to sew!
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
carlamcgill says:

January 18, 2017 at 9:06 pm

This quote from Spurgeon sounds like a lot of Puritan literature I have read. For all of their strictness and anxiety about salvation, they had some wonderful descriptions of God as a loving nurturer, a kind of mother. Then, of course, there are the sermons about hell, which I also tend to enjoy (i.e. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God), since they are so full of striking imagery.

LikeLike

Reply
- Adrienne Morris says:
  
  January 19, 2017 at 1:55 pm
  
  I enjoy them too. I know some people say good and evil are relative etc. I just don’t buy it. What a miserable world we live in if evil is just as “good” as good. 🙂
  
  I have no problem with there being a literal hell of some sort. My problem is knowing I deserve to go there! LOL.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply