He is Sweet

There is a particular word that I've heard people who seem to have had legitimate encounters with God use to describe Him. The word is sweet. No not sweet as in slang for 'cool', sweet as in kind or tender. It always fell on my ears as kind of an odd description, but I've heard it from such different types of people. It also makes an appearance in several Christian songs. And I haven't just heard it from people with happy go lucky everything is always swell lives, but from people who have walked through tragedy. They'll talk about how God walked them through it or met them in it, and at some point will get a distant smile and say "He was just so sweet."

As I've gotten older and as I've looked back on some of my own experiences in life, I'm beginning to understand what they mean. God's sweetness is that He cares so specifically for us, and knows just what we need even when we just can't see it.

When I was a kid I had an imagination and an ego. I was going to be a medical missionary in some wild and exotic place, do many important things, save many many people, probably start an orphanage, and would most certainly have at least one book written about me. One very interesting book. Also as a child, maybe in part because of that same imagination, I was very afraid of the dark and of being alone. I would lie in my bed, pulse elevated, senses sharp, listening for even the faintest sinister sound. I could never say for sure what I was afraid of, all I knew was it felt evil, and it felt like it wanted to hurt me. I can remember many nights of my parents sitting in the room with me, praying with me, trying to help me go to sleep in my room alone. Sometimes I'd just go into my sisters room, or pull up a sleeping bag on the floor of my parent's room.

When I was about 12 a man came to my parents ministry, and he had what we call in charismatic circles the gift of prophecy. We had a service at the ministry and he was giving words of prophecy, often in the form of scripture verses, to families. When it was my families' turn I walked up proudly, ready to be reaffirmed of the fact that yes, I would be very important and do many great things. I was already pretty sure of the fact, but I was ready for someone to prophecy it and make it official in front of everyone. He said general things about how God would take care of us, and that us kids would never be in want, and yadayadayada, but much to my dismay he said nothing whatsoever about me! Unbelievable! I was disappointed and a little hurt that God had left me out.

Later that night the man walked up to me and wrote Psalm 91:11 on my hand. He smiled at me and said, "You have an angel." I looked up the verse later and this is what it said:

He will give his angels charge over you
To keep you in all your ways.

A few verses above that one read:

He (God) will cover you with his feathers
Under his wings you will find refuge
You will not fear the terror of the night

I was still disappointed that it didn't say anything about me being important, but I started saying those verses to myself when I was afraid at night (even into college), and I would be able to go to sleep. And that's the sweetness of God. He was merciful despite my prideful little heart, and cared about a little girl who was too scared to sleep at night.

I remember that sometimes and all the many other things God has done for me (not the mention the BIG thing of dying for me and forgiving me), and I think, yes- He is so sweet.