The Lord Is...

Have you ever watched someone respond to the Lord and make good initial progress, only to about-face and backtrack sometime down the line? That was Nineveh. They’d heard the preaching of Jonah and repented. But, a hundred years later they’d slipped back into sin and were again ripe for judgment. It fell to Nahum to try and awaken their slumbering hearts. In doing so, he highlighted some striking aspects of God’s character:

• Jealous (v. 2). God refuses to share the heart with any rival—not because he’s selfish or possessive, but because he wants to bless us.
• Takes vengeance (v. 2). You can’t set yourself up against God and hope to prevail. Those who do so end up receiving his wrath.
• Slow to anger (v. 3). God is far more patient than we give him credit for. His anger is neither abrupt nor random.
• Great in power (v. 3). Knowing this should cause us to both trust in his help as well as dread his judgment.
• Has his way is in the whirlwind and the storm (v. 3). God’s power is so great it controls the mightiest forces known to man.
• Good (v. 7). It is his very nature to be independently and unchangeably good. No one must help or encourage him to be this way.
• A refuge in times of trouble (v. 7, NIV). We can find protection, shelter, and safety in God’s being. He does some of his best work in the toughest of circumstances.

Find satisfaction in the joy and awe of who the Lord truly is!