There was something in that moment on the bench that I didn’t understand at the time.
I thought I was learning how to talk to God.
But what I was actually being shown was who He is.
I didn’t come to Him with the right words.
I didn’t come with understanding.
I didn’t come with a foundation.
I came with confusion.
And instead of correcting me, He met me there.
When I didn’t know what to call Him, He didn’t ask me to figure it out.
He revealed Himself.
Friend.
At the time, I received it as comfort.
But looking back, I can see it was more than that.
It was an introduction.
I had stepped into relationship before I understood the person I was in relationship with.
And while God is kind enough to meet us there, we can’t stay there.
Because how you see Him will shape how you walk with Him.
If you see Him as distant, you will hold back.
If you see Him as easily disappointed, you will strive.
If you see Him as hard to reach, you will hesitate.
But if you begin to see Him correctly, everything starts to change.
Sometimes the way we see God has less to do with Him and more to do with what we’ve experienced.
For many of us, our understanding of a father was shaped long before we ever tried to understand God.
And while earthly fathers carry an important role, they are still human.
Some were present.
Some were distant.
Some did their best with what they were given.
And some simply were not shown how to lead, love, or guide.
So when we hear “Father,” we don’t all picture the same thing.
If your experience with a father was painful, distant, or confusing, it may feel difficult to see God clearly at first.
Not because He is unclear, but because the lens we’re looking through has been shaped over time.
But God is not asking you to pretend your experience didn’t happen.
He is patient enough to reveal Himself to you, apart from anything you’ve known before.
“Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” (Psalm 27:10)
This is why understanding who God is matters.
Because without it, you will interpret every season, every silence, and every shift through the wrong lens.
The moment on that bench wasn’t just the start of my relationship with God.
It was the first glimpse into His character.
He is not waiting for you to approach Him perfectly.
He meets you in your honesty.
Many of us come into relationship with God carrying ideas about Him that we didn’t even realize we had.
Some of us see Him as:
• Distant
• Disappointed
• Hard to please
• Waiting for us to get it right
So we try to approach Him carefully.
Say the right things.
Do the right things.
Not mess it up.
But that’s not how He introduced Himself to me.
He met me in confusion.
In awkwardness.
In uncertainty.
And instead of asking for perfection, He offered relationship.
Throughout Scripture, we see this same heart.
God walks with people.
He speaks to them.
He responds to them.
He stays with them.
He is not easily shaken by where they start.
(Genesis 3:8–9, even after Adam and Eve hid)
If you’ve never been shown who God is, start here.
Scripture gives us a clear picture of His character.
Not just in stories, but in who He consistently shows Himself to be.
God, our heavenly Father, is:
Love - “God is love.” (1 John 4:8)
Patient - “The Lord is not slow… but is patient with you.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Kind - “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” (Romans 2:4)
Present - “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
Faithful - “The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)
Good - “The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.” (Psalm 145:9)
Merciful - “His mercies are new every morning.” (Lamentations 3:22–23)
Gracious - “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” (Psalm 103:8)
Just - “All His ways are just… righteous and upright is He.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)
Near - “The Lord is near to all who call on Him.” (Psalm 145:18)
Not just when you understand everything, but especially when you don’t.
This doesn’t mean He never corrects or leads.
But even His correction comes from relationship, not distance.
Even His leading comes from closeness, not pressure.
“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.” (Revelation 3:19)
If you skip this part—if you skip understanding who He is—you will spend your entire walk trying to figure out how to do things right instead of learning how to be with Him.
You don’t need to have the perfect words.
You don’t need to know all the stories.
You don’t need to understand everything yet.
You just need to know this:
The same God who met me on that bench is the same God meeting you now.
“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8)
He is not waiting for you to get better before coming close.
He comes close first.
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
And before you learn what to do in every season, before you learn how to walk this out, you need to know who you are walking with.
Companion Thought:
God is not waiting for you to approach Him correctly.
He is inviting you to know Him personally.
Skip joyfully to Chronicle #5