If you believe that man came before God, then your perspective of man and God, may follow the line of reason that since Man most likely created God that man is the source of the authoritative narrative regarding his own existence and proliferates the systemic "fiction" that is referred to as God.

If you believe that God came before man, then most likely you believe that God offers the authoritative narrative on His own existence and exposes the fiction of complete and undirected randomness coming together in the formation of man and creation.

To those dismissive of God, the notion of such a Divine, All powerful, All knowing and All present being is unintelligent folly, and embraces human existence as that which is limited by "natural Law." Man is the center of such a universe and His happiness is the highest priority of his existence.
The Bible indicates that God's highest purpose in our lives is not our circumstantial happiness but our positional joy realized through the formation of His Son's likeness in our lives.

Theology is the study of God. Anthropology is the study of man. Without the Holy Spirit as our instructor we would fail in the study of both.

I believe that that God is the Uncaused Cause.

When God refers to Himself as the "I AM", that conveys that He is eternally self existent and that He is not propped up by that (man) which is utterly dependent upon Him for existence.

1 Corinthians 1:26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God - and righteousness and sanctification and redemption - 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

Throughout scripture men and women were many times one divinely authored conversation away from transformation.
Gideon is a great example of such. When he heard what God had spoken over Him and about Him, it led to great personal transformation and cultural liberation through him.

Do we know what God says about us?

As we prayerfully wait in His presence and meditate upon what God has spoken about us and over us in His Word, the Holy Spirit will seed and birth radical transformation within us.
The transformation of the mind is fueled by what God says about us and speaks over us.. Gideon was still Gideon but his thoughts concerning himself were being reshaped by God's Words spoken over Him and then the other needed changes followed.

What God speaks about and over His children seeds a foundation for dynamic living. Don't give up, we are always one Divinely authored conversation away from transformation and empowerment..

Judges 6:11-13
11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

Fruit can grow in the most unlikeliest of places, whether it be in places where one has experienced deep trauma or bitter disappointment. The committed will allow the Holy Spirit to produce something in their brokenness that is beautiful and life giving to others. There are tremendous works of art that are made with crushed glass. True followers of Christ will not stand with pointed finger or clenched fist, because their hands are too involved in things much more profitable to others and things which truly glorify the Lord. Those who love the Lord more than their need to understand, will not abandon their posts when they do not understand. A dedicated civil servant or soldier will never abandon his or her post knowing that doing so would leave a gaping hole with his or her departure.
Isaiah 61:1-4

As I reflect on certain times when as enabled by God's grace, I held my tongue, when I really believed that it would be better to leave certain words in my mouth and not in the ears of others I breathe a huge sigh of relief and thank God for enabling me to do something that I would have failed at without Him.
Thank God for the Holy Spirit who gives discretion as to when to speak and the grace as to how to speak and the power to withhold inflammatory words that cause great collateral damage. One does not have to apologize for the careless word not spoken, or for the defamation not inflicted upon another's reputation, no retractions, no rationalizations needed and no need to grieve over the loss caused by hateful words extinguished before launch.
Proverbs 17:28 Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.

When storms come it really is not the why that I most need to know, it is you Lord, that I must know, that I may discern my own conflicted heart. My ears may hear the howling winds of many voices, but bring me to clarity through repentance and brokenness, that I may hear the one voice that matters most.

When I am offended help me to not tear at the wounds within my heart that Jesus died to heal. Jesus, my hope and my life, is always more, when I've reached my end. I believe that you Lord God are real.
The devil will offers his sympathies to those who choose death instead of life. He will attempt to lead the wounded down the road of self pity even as the Holy Spirit leads to repentance.

Charles Spurgeon said, "The door of repentance opens into the hall of joy."

​Job 42
42 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
2 “I know that You can do everything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 Listen, please, and let me speak;
You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’
5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
But now my eye sees You.
6 Therefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.”