Awesome

Nahum 1;3 "The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet."

I've got to say, I am loving reading the Minor Prophets (the little guys). The words that they speak are not little or minor at all. They are huge and they speak major truth to our lives.

Look at this…it is kind of a follow up from yesterday. Yesterday God pardoned, passed over, did not retain His anger, He delights in mercy, He has compassion and throws our sin in the deep sea. Today I am reminded, God is slow to anger. I thank Him for that. Frankly, God has a right to be angry. Just take a look at this world and the mess we have made. Why is it a mess? Because we have ignored the truth of His word, we have turned our backs on His instructions and now we are reaping what we have sown. At this point, what we are seeing is not God's anger, it is the result of our stupidity. But then break it down. The reason the world is screwed up is because we are screwed up…because I am screwed up. The world is made up of sinful people who desire to go their own way. This is me. I want what I want and it is not always consistent with what God wants. For this God has a right to be angry. He could lower the boom any time He wanted…but He doesn't. Remember, He delights in mercy. He would rather be merciful than angry so He is slow to anger.

But then, here is the balance that Nahum has to remind us about…He is also great in power and He is restraining that power, but not forever. He will not at all acquit the wicked. That is a significant warning. God is slow to anger and remember He has great power so watch out because He is not going forget what the wicked are doing. Some day, some how at some time His great power will be revealed against the wicked. We will no longer be reaping what we have sown, we will no longer be seeing the results of how dumb we were, we will see the awesome, terrible power of God.

I mean, look at who He is. He is going to have His way. No one is going to hold Him back. His purposes will always prevail. He has His way in the whirlwind and the storm. He makes the sea dry, He dries up the rivers, He wilts the flowers, the mountains quake before Him and the hills melt and the earth heaves at His presence and the clouds are the dust of His feet. There is really only one word that can describe who God is: Awesome. He is the only One who is awesome. Not some football game, or some song or some food we eat or even some person. God alone is awesome and this awesome, powerful God is slow to anger. Man, am I grateful.