Is Your God a Happy God?

You'll hear it everywhere: God is all powerful, all knowing, everywhere present. Sounds good, right? I would suppose that means God is alway upbeat, loving, and, well, happy. Wouldn't you be if you were literally everything? You'd never make a mistake, always get what you want, never be sad or droopy or weary. Unless you're the god of the Bible.

At first it appears all's well:

"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good." Gen. 1:31

But things change:

"And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." Gen. 6:6

In only five chapters, God goes from happy to quite sad. Why?

Because of you! That's right. Humans have the power (according to these passages) to take God from glad to sad almost instantly.

It's quite clear that this is a story, not literal history, but if you believe the Bible is the literal Word of God, then this has to set off an alarm bell or two. You'll have to agree that this god is moody, emotional, and a bit inconsistent. Worse, further on in the story, he gets so angry at his own creation that he condemns them to an eternity in hell if they don't straighten up and fly right, which means, in essence, "Obey me or else, weaklings!"

So, rationally speaking, why would the author(s) of Genesis portray God in such a way? I'm not certain but my guess would be that the god of Genesis is created in MAN'S image rather than the other way around. I could be wrong, but the text appears to speak for itself.

My suggestion is to let the Bible be a great source of inspiration if you must. But don't be trapped into believing that a man-made creation, full of different authors, different time frames, and different agendas is the literal, unalterable, final and infinite word of the Source of the universe.

If you want to know if your God is happy, look within. That's where the real Spirit resides. And in that recognition, joy increases, love increases, and the world becomes a grand and glorious place.

Now, that's a happy god!