Acts 14:17: ”Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
A phrase I occasionally hear when I pray with other people is, “God, we thank You not for what You’ve done for us, but for who You are.”
I understand the heart behind that. I think what they’re trying to say is that even if God hadn’t decided to do certain things for them, they would still love Him and He would still be worthy of their praise. Our thankfulness isn’t conditional upon God doing what we think He should do when we think He should do it. I get that. And even agree with it.
At the same time, I don’t think it’s really possible to separate God’s nature from God’s actions. It’s like trying to separate wet from water. We would not know who God is without the evidence of what He’s done.
The God of the Bible is not an abstract God we can arrive at by mere theoretical speculation. This is a God who acts. A God who has shown up and shown Himself to be certain things.
We don’t call God the Provider because He logically has to be that. We call Him it because in the Bible, throughout history, and in our own lives, God has shown Himself to be so by providing for his people over and over again. Tangibly. Specifically.
The same is true with God being a savior, healer, sustainer, and creator. With Him being gracious, loving, mighty, and steadfast. These aren’t descriptions pulled out of the air. They are the one-word summations of God’s countless concrete demonstrations of His character.
When you’re praying today, don’t settle for only thanking God for who He is. Let’s thank Him by naming examples of how He has expressed His nature in our lives. God has shown up for us. Tangibly. Specifically. Let’s thank Him. Tangibly. Specifically.
