If one were to put together a personal ad for a God, it may read something like this. SWF (single white female) looking for a God who will take care of all the minuet details of the universe. Details that I will never care about or even know exist. Please do not be needy, and don’t ever die on me, and please, please don’t be a moody God. I prefer a God that is steady and unchanging. I’m not looking for a God who is only a few points above me on an IQ test, I’m looking for a God who is a know-it-all, and wise, yet is caring enough to remain faithful to me in my ignorance. Since I have no one on earth to use as a standard to measure right and wrong please don’t just say the things I want to hear. It is a requirement that you are holy and that you prove your holiness by your righteous acts (things like delivering the needy from injustice). I know that because you are holy you may not want to have anything to do with me, so I’m asking and telling you in advance that I will need a God who loves me and provides me with grace, mercy and love.
Please be a God that will stick up for me when others wrong me and teach me how to hate the evil I do to others at times. Because I am a slow learner and it will take me a lifetime to finish this race you must be longsuffering and patient with me. When I fall down please be there at the ready to pick me up, brush me off and remind me of my ability to run the race you’ve placed me in. When other gods flirt with me and buy me gifts I would ask that you fight for my affection and allow your jealousy to be seen, it reminds me of your love.
Even though I am extremely needy I want a God who will not jump at my every command. Even though you are not free to be unloving, approve of sin, ignore the hard facts of reality, be uncompassionate, unmerciful, or deny who you are, you must not be conditioned by anything (Elwell, 1984). I am weak and in need of a strong God. A God who will exercise His authority even when I may not like it and kick, scream or demand my own way. I must have a God who will not pay attention to my whining, but will respond to my faith.
When we consider the attributes of God we find that metaphysically He is self-existent, eternal and unchanging. Intellectually God is omniscient, faithful and wise. Ethically God is holy, righteous, and loving. Emotionally God hates evil, is long-suffering and compassionate. Existentially God is free, authentic and all-powerful; and relationally God is transcendent in being, yet immanent in the universe, in activity and in redemption (Elwell, 1984).
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