Do You Feel Really Confused About God?
👉🏻 Part of you genuinely wants to know Him.
You want to trust Him.
You want to believe that He's good.
But another part of you keeps hesitating because...
🫣 The God you've learned about doesn't always seem good.
Maybe you've been told that God is watching and waiting for you to mess up.
That He's easily disappointed.
That you have to be careful not to make Him angry.
That He blesses the people who get everything right and withholds good things from those who don't.
That God helps those who help themselves.
So as a result, you find yourself wondering things like:
"Is God really good?"
"Can I trust Him?"
"Does He actually care about me?"
"What is He really like?"
And perhaps the hardest part is that you don't know what to believe anymore.
You don't want to reject God.
💯 You just don't want to keep believing in a version of Him that doesn't look anything like real love.
God Isn’t Like the People Who’ve Hurt You
Your confusion and pain are real–make no mistake.
But the good news is that there’s a lie behind your pain–one that, once recognized, can start to be removed.
👉🏻 The lie underneath your pain is this, friend: “God is like the people who taught me about Him or the people who have hurt me.”
Maybe someone taught you that God is primarily angry.
Or judgmental.
Or impossible to please.
Maybe the people who represented God to you were controlling, critical, emotionally distant, or even abusive.
And when you're young, it's really difficult to separate the message from the messenger.
If someone tells you, "This is what God is like," and then treats you in a way that feels cruel or unsafe, you may naturally begin associating those things with God Himself.
💭 You may start believing things like:
"God is waiting for me to fail."
"God is probably disappointed in me."
"God doesn't really want me to be myself."
"God's love is conditional."
"I have to be afraid of Him in order to respect Him."
💯 But here's the thing, friend: People can misrepresent God.
Even people who use His name.
Even people who claim to speak for Him.
Even people who sincerely believe they're teaching the truth.
Their character is not God's character. Their behavior is not God's behavior.
And what someone told you about God isn't necessarily true.
How Do We Know What God’s Really Like?
👉🏻 We look at His true character.
And throughout the Bible, we see a God who is remarkably consistent:
God is gentle. He isn't looking for opportunities to crush people who are already hurting.
God is faithful. He doesn't disappear when life gets difficult or when we struggle.
God is trustworthy. His character isn't unpredictable. We don't have to constantly wonder which version of Him we're going to encounter.
God is patient. He doesn't demand instant perfection from people who are learning, growing, and healing.
And God is consistently good. Not sometimes good. Not good when we're behaving. Not good only when life is going the way we want. Good is who He is.
And when we look at Jesus, we get an especially clear picture of God's heart.
✝️ Jesus didn't spend His time intimidating hurting people into submission. Instead, He:
Moved toward them.
Listened.
Touched those who were considered untouchable.
Welcomed people others rejected.
Showed compassion to people who were suffering.
Was honest about sin without treating sinners as disposable.
And repeatedly invited people into relationship.
That's important because sometimes we've been taught to think of God's holiness and God's goodness as opposites.
As though a holy God must necessarily be harsh.
🌟 But Jesus shows us that God's holiness doesn't make Him cruel. His holiness is part of what makes His goodness so trustworthy.
God isn't good because He overlooks everything.
He's good because everything about Him is good.
So if the God you've been taught about feels harsh, unpredictable, or impossible to please, I’m giving you permission to ask yourself: "Is that actually who God is?"
Not, "Who told me God is like this?"
Not, "What did I learn to fear?"
But: "What has God actually revealed about Himself?"
Because you are allowed to discover God's character for yourself.
And the more clearly you see Him, the more clearly you'll understand what it means to trust Him.
A Practical Step to Discovering God’s True Character
Take a sheet of paper (or open a blank sheet in Canva) and draw a line down the middle.
At the top of one side, write: “What I've Been Taught About God.”
On the other side, write: “What Scripture Reveals About God.”
🎒 Then choose one belief you've carried about God.
Some examples might be:
"God is disappointed in me."
"God is hard to please."
"God is distant."
"God is waiting to punish me."
"God doesn't really want to hear from me."
Now, don't try to correct that belief immediately.
Just write it down.
📖 Then spend some time looking at what the Bible actually reveals about God's character.
Ask yourself: "Is this what God is like—or is this what someone taught me God is like?"
You don't have to rebuild your entire understanding of God overnight.
You simply want to start paying attention. Because knowing God is a relationship, not a test you have to suddenly pass.
And sometimes the first step toward trusting Him is simply gaining a small amount of clarity about who He really is.
Action Step
If you’re not sure how to find God’s true character in the Bible.
Or, if that feels too daunting or confusing.
Or, if you need some help in getting started…check out Relate Escape Place.
It’s designed to help you explore who God really is and what it means to have a relationship with Him.