How to Relate to God: Balancing Awe, Faith, and a Father’s Love

God presents Himself in different ways, depending on the situation. Sometimes He reveals Himself more as a King, sometimes more as a Father, or even as a close, understanding Friend. What is the best way to relate to God in order to strengthen our faith and not stumble in it?

Who is God behind all these different revelations?

The book of Isaiah states (55:8): “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” The Torah teaches us that God is beyond any form or image that we could imagine, and therefore it is forbidden to try to depict or sculpt His “likeness.”

God is so exalted beyond our understanding that even when we say “God is One,” the Rambam explains that the word “one” cannot capture His absolute unity. In human language, “one” usually means one among many, or one that could be divided into parts, like a person who is made up of different limbs. God’s oneness, however, is absolute and indescribable, beyond words, imagination, or human intellect. We say “One” only to clarify that He is not “two,” and because it is the closest word in our language to describe His unity (Guide for the Perplexed I:58). However we must always remember that our words and thoughts are infinitely far from what God truly is.

In ancient times, idol-worshippers imagined their greatest god as the sun, or as a great figure sitting on a cloud. Without telescopes, they could see no more than about 4,000 stars. In the last few centuries, as science discovered the vast universe, idol worship disappeared from the modern world. One cannot seriously imagine the Creator as a star or a human figure once we know that there are billions of stars, many larger than our entire solar system.

Even a simple farmer today can understand that the Creator of this vast universe is infinite, beyond all imagination or words. God created such a great universe so that we would realize how far beyond human comprehension He is, as Isaiah says (40:25–26): “To whom will you liken Me, that I should be his equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name.” By contemplating the stars and their magnitude, a person can grasp something of how wondrous the Creator is.

Thousands of years ago, the Torah already taught that God is both in heaven and on earth, infinite and without end. The sages also revealed, long before modern astronomy, that the heavens contain countless myriads of stars (Berakhot 32b), far more than ancient astronomers imagined. The Jewish view always recognized God as the immeasurable Creator: “He performs great deeds beyond comprehension, wonders without number” (Job 5:9).

Why we don’t add praises beyond the set prayers

Because His greatness is infinite, the sages forbade adding extra praises to God in prayer, as doing so diminishes the truth. It is like a peasant who walks into the world’s richest king’s palace, filled with gold, pearls, and diamonds designed by the finest artists, and exclaims: “How beautiful is the door handle of the guest room!” Or like someone praising the world’s greatest mathematician for knowing simple addition and subtraction. Similarly, one who adds praises beyond what the sages composed in our prayers is likened to someone disrespecting God without realizing it (Berakhot 33b).

If God is so transcendent, how can we pray to Him as a close Father?

The Rambam’s teachings in Guide for the Perplexed might make some feel distant from God, as He is so far above our understanding. If God is infinitely beyond us, how can we pray in human words and have a relationship with Him?

The Torah answers by calling God a Father. Even the greatest, wisest, wealthiest father in the world loves his small child more than anything else. The child is weak and immature, but the father bends down to his level, smiles at him, laughs with him, gives him candy, and provides for his needs. The father wants a relationship with his child despite the immense gap between them. Similarly, God loves and cares for us like a Father, even though we cannot comprehend His greatness.

The sages instructed us to gradually grow in our relationship with God. A child must first feel God as a close, loving Father to build love and joy in keeping the mitzvot. As one matures, one must also see Him as King and Judge, so that faith remains firm in times of trials.

The proper way, the sages revealed, is to relate to God as both “Our Father, Our King”. In prayer we call Him both Father (mercy) and King (justice). True faith means balancing these two aspects by seeing Him as the most exalted King, while also as the most loving Father.

God is not only our Father, but also the Healer of all flesh. Suffering in life is like surgery to heal the soul — sometimes painful but for our ultimate good. Those who see God as a Father, accept hardships with humility and even thank Him, like a patient thanking a surgeon after recovery.

By trusting God as a Father, we can continue to pray and cry out in hardship, knowing He hears us, even if He doesn’t give us what we want. Parents love their baby deeply but don’t always give the candy he cries for; they give what is truly best.

Humility leads to stronger faith

When a person is arrogant, thinking he can understand God as an equal, he suffers. When he is humble however, life becomes easier and better. As the Torah says: “You are children to the Lord your God” (Deut. 14:1), and “Know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you” (Deut. 8:5).

True humility and trust is to see ourselves as little children before the Creator. The Torah guides us: “Walk wholeheartedly with the Lord your God” (Deut. 18:13). As Rashi explains: “Walk with Him with simplicity and trust. Whatever comes upon you, accept with faith, and you will be with Him and part of Him.”

May God help us gain humility and, through it, complete faith in His goodness and mercy.