Ishi or Baali: How do you relate to God?

The way we relate to God determines our actions and what we expect from Him. From an early age, we form an idea of God, and personally, mine was that of a God who was waiting for me to fail so He could remind me of my sin and who is disappointed in me because He has high expectations of my behavior. This idea has brought a lot of sadness into my life because it doesn't allow me to be vulnerable; it has led to perfectionism in everything I do, making it very difficult for me to deal with frustration. 

How beautiful it was to discover a truth: that god I had in my head is not the God of the Bible, but the god that society teaches. It has been quite an adventure to discover, day by day, a God who loves me as I am and who saved me by grace. We all have had misconceptions about God. The Bible, in the book of Hosea, affirms that there are basically two ways we see God:

“In that day, says the LORD, you will call me Ishi, and you will never again call me Baali.” Hosea 2:16

When I read this passage, I was struck by the phrase “you will no longer call me Baali.” Through it, I understood that there was something about God that I did not yet know, and that not knowing it had prevented me from relating to Him in a better way. I invite you to discover the differences between these two forms, so that in the end, by yourself, you can determine how you have related to God. 

Baali: Fear

Baali is an expression meaning lord, master, or boss. The relationship with Baali is based on the fear of failing a demanding god, who is willing to punish his creatures when they are not perfect or, in other words, when they do not measure up.

The basis of the relationship with God on the part of the people of Israel was fear of punishment. They had the idea of a demanding god who was waiting for the right moment when they would fail him, in order to execute them. Obviously, there was no trust, because you cannot trust a god who is quick to punish, and perhaps this was the reason why they found it difficult to advance toward the promised land. Seeing God as a Baal puts his creatures at a disadvantage, because it is difficult to put one's life in the hands of a god whose main objective is punishment because of his demands. 

The history of Israel has a lot to do with us, because we were taught that God is a Baali, a God who has a list of demands for us and who expects us to “behave well” in order to be approved, and that is why we say, “I am good and I am going to heaven because of my good deeds.” There is extreme pride in that phrase, because believing that we go to heaven because of our good deeds puts the standards of a Holy God on the same level as our own, and the truth is that it is truly impossible for us to fully meet God's moral standards. The proud person thinks he can and therefore “tries to be better and do good things,” but the truth is that he will never succeed because his humanity will betray him sooner or later. This same pride leads us to relate to a demanding god who expects us to behave well by fulfilling the requirements of his law; this god is not a friend, not a father, and even less a beloved; this god is a lord, a master, a boss. The need to fulfill God's moral expectations with our own strength prevents us from showing ourselves as we really are before Him. It leads us to hide our emotions and to have a relationship where it is impossible for us to fully express how we feel for fear that, because of our sincerity, He will become angry and end up not only ignoring us but also not giving us what our hearts long for. When we see God as a Baal, our prayers are hollow, insincere, and we are unable to express our deepest feelings out of fear, which is absurd, because according to Psalm 139:1-2, "Lord, you have examined me and you know me; you know all my ways; even from afar you know what I think." God knows the deepest thoughts of our minds and the desires that are most deeply rooted in our hearts.

When we relate to God as a Baali, we find it difficult to ask, because we were taught that we “Do not ask God, we only thank Him because He has already done enough for us.” However, this is also part of how we relate to God as a Baali, since the Bible says, “Ask, and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7). Furthermore, James 4:3 states, “You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, because you ask for your own pleasures.” Here James indicates that what is wrong is not the act of asking, but doing so selfishly. I ask you, if you consider yourself a child of God and you don't ask Him, then who do you ask? If, as His children, we don't have the option to ask Him, then we have truly lost hope. 

After reading these words, you may have realized that your relationship with God has not been very sincere and definitely needs to be remodeled. But then, what option do we have?

Ishi: Love

Both the Old and New Testaments are part of a whole, the greatest love story in the universe, but the biggest difference between them is Jesus being crucified and resurrected. The Bible declares that “Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10), and this has a lot to do with the relationship based on demands and fear that we talked about in previous paragraphs, because it is precisely the constant presence of sin in our lives that leads us to an unhealthy relationship based on fear of punishment.

The following verse summarizes what I am trying to say:

“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we might be in a right relationship with God through Christ” 1 Corinthians 5:21

In Jesus Christ, God satisfied His need for holiness. His demands could only be met by a man who never sinned, and therefore Christ allows our relationship with God to be based not on the fulfillment of a series of demands but on grace, since it is grace—and not our own efforts—that allows us to live as God pleases. Grace is defined as that which is received freely, that for which we did not have to work, that which is granted to us through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. And it is this grace that leads us to be born again. What does grace have to do with having a right relationship with God? A great deal! Because it is only by grace that we will be in a right relationship with Him. 

From that moment on, God does not want us to relate to Him as Baali (lord, master, demanding boss) but as Ishi, which means “husband.” Why does God want to relate to us as a husband? Why didn't He choose another figure to help us understand how He wanted to relate to us? Because there is no relationship in the world more intimate than this one, no closer relationship, no greater camaraderie and complicity. Furthermore, because it is a relationship based not on fear, but on love. From the above, we understand that God wants two things from us: that we relate to Him out of love and that this love leads us to a deep level of intimacy. When you understand that you cannot do enough to reach God's high standards in your own humanity, and that you need Divine grace to relate to Him, you live more lightly because you do not have to spend your life trying to “reach a level” or “trying to be better” out of fear. In this way, your relationship with Him is more sincere because you can openly express what you feel and think, knowing that He will not be angry, because He Himself recognizes that you will never be able to satisfy His need for holiness or His high moral standards; only the sacrifice of Christ could achieve such a thing.

The Bible says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). This means that anything that comes from you—any good behavior, transformation of your character, or blessing—comes from Him through Jesus Christ. “Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18), suggesting that it is God's true love through Jesus that allows us to relate to others without fear of punishment because we know that Christ has already made the effort that we could not make.

Having said that, I do not want to suggest that God does not demand an exemplary life from us. What I am suggesting is that it is impossible for our own efforts to lead us to a life that pleases God, and that our motivation should not be fear of punishment, but love for God, which comes because “He loved us first” (1 John 4:19) and “He loved us by sending Jesus to die for us” (John 3:16). It would be very sad if in your marriage you gave a gift out of obligation, or so that the other person would not get angry, in which case fear would be your motivator. How beautiful it is when your spouse surprises you on your birthday and does so because they love you, and not because they fear that if they don't, you will get angry. The same is true with God. He does not want your relationship with Him to be motivated by fear, but rather that you flow in love toward Him. If you go to church, do so because you love Him and love His house, and not because He or the pastor might get angry. God wants you to serve Him through your love for Him and for everyone else, and not out of fear of losing your ministry or an opportunity to climb higher in your calling. He wants you to keep His commandments out of grace, and not out of fear of the consequences, and for your obedience to be a response to His love and not to fear

Finally, I want to tell you something that I once felt in my heart from God: nothing that involves God's grace can come from your own efforts; if it did, it would not be the result of God's goodness. You must be aware that any blessing you have in your life is a manifestation of God's grace, not of your behavior or your good works. Any blessing is a manifestation of the power and grace of Christ. When it comes into your life, you must know that it was not because of something you did, but because of God's grace in you. 

To believe that any blessing in your life is denied you because something is lacking in your behavior is pride, because it is to consider that you can do something to pay for what you can only have by grace. To think that you can have it only when you meet the “requirements” is to think that you have it because you deserve it. Where is the miracle of grace if you have something because you deserve it? Why have faith? It is not a matter of behavior, it is a matter of grace!

How about venturing to ask yourself how your relationship with God is and daring to go deeper?

Isabel Cristina Ocampo Quiceno