I used to be very confused about God. I still am, but not as much as before.

The main cause of my perplexity was, I thought I had God pegged. He is “love” and so, everything he does must be viewed through that prism. I was wrong.

Love is God’s essential nature and yes, it does colour everything he does, but there are other principles that guide his actions, like Righteousness and Sovereignty. There is the frightening narrative about him in the Old Testament. He is a Father, but also a Judge. A Redeemer, yet a Warrior.

I am an introvert. That is my essential nature. I am open-minded and progressive. Those are essential values. But so many things guide my daily decisions. My desire for justice, brings out my extroverted side, when I work with NGOs. My Choleric side is constantly innovating. I am constrained by the constitution of Nigeria. No matter how progressive I am, my political idealism is limited by Federal Character.

I am slowly realising that God cannot be pigeonholed. His character and actions are multidimensional. He is sovereign and exercises willpower and executive decision-making capacity. He is a spirit and so, is very unpredictable. He loves Jesus. He will do anything to protect his son and those that are hermetically sealed within him – the church. God also willingly submits himself to mankind’s choices and the political, cultural and social norms we adopt. Then, there is the milieu we live in – the New Testament. God is no longer killing those who oppose him or those he anoints. To be clear, he used to and any attempt to whitewash this, calls into question the legitimacy of Biblical accounts of God. Then, there are the general principles and scientific laws that guide the earth – sowing & reaping or gravity, for example.

When I consider all of these, I appreciate God’s daily dealings with mankind. He has a Father’s heart, but he is a King and an Executive, who runs the enterprise called the Universe.