Yes, Jesus Loves Me

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, of famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 8:35-39 NKJV)

If you were to ask most Christians if they believed God loves them, they'd most likely say, "Yes, without a doubt." That's what the Bible tells us, right? But in reality, I wonder if we really believe that, not only with our heads, but with our hearts.

If we were really honest, I think most of us would admit that we believe God loves in levels. He loves Billy Graham a lot. I mean, look at all the man has done for Him. He loves Beth Moore a lot too. She is, after all, a powerful woman of God. But us regular people? He loves us, but maybe not as much as Beth Moore or Billy Graham or our pastor at church.

We also think God doesn't really talk to us regular folk. Not the way He talks to the "powerful" men and women of God. Christians often follow evangelists and ministers as if they have some sort of special connection to God that no one else has. I'm not saying, that we shouldn't respect these men and women. We absolutely should, but we need to realize that while, yes, God does love them abundantly, He also loves each and everyone of us just as much. And not only does He love us, He wants to speak to our hearts. He wants to lead and guide us. He wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. He wants us to start believing that He hears our prayers . . . that we also have a special connection with Him.

I am convinced that if we really had a revelation of God's love for us, our lives couldn't help but be a witness to His goodness and His glory. If we started asking Him to speak to our hearts, and then listening for His still small voice, we would realize that He may have called us to different roles within the body of Christ. . . each of us have our own special place . . . but each of us, regardless of what He has called us to do, have been called to live a strong powerful life for Him.

I'm not fully there yet. I have plenty of struggles and plenty of doubts, but I've been asking God to reveal Himself to me more each day. I've been praying that He will open the eyes of my heart to who He is and to how deep His love runs for His children. And one of the greatest things about this whole process is I've finally realized that it isn't about anything I can do. Instead it's about resting in God and letting Him "do" what needs to be done. It's not about working. It is about trusting.

Yes, Jesus really does love me, and He loves you just as much.

Making Sense of it All

There are a lot of things running around in my head at the moment. As I look at all the devastation caused by the recent tornadoes in our country, I feel an overwhelming sadness for those who have lost so much. Some people say that it's the end of the world. Biblically speaking, I definitely don't think we are far off, but I don't think we are there yet. Having said that let me insert this:

Matthew 24:36 (New King James Version) 
³⁶ "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."

Some people say it's the wrath of God. I don't know everything about everyone, but I do know this, there are a lot of God fearing people who were affected. People that love the Lord and serve God with all their hearts. People who have given their lives to serve Him. I also know that we live in a fallen and imperfect world. We live in a world that has natural disasters. We live in a world of wars, and famine, and devastation. I don't blame God.

After I had Andrew I felt like, quite possibly for the first time in my life, I really began to understand God's love for me. I think that when God created the family His purpose was to help us better understand His love for us. The love I feel for my son is consuming in a way that I cannot explain. I want nothing but the best for my children (both the one I have now and the one we will adopt in the future). I want them to be happy. I want them to be healthy. I want them to have only what is best for them. Because I love Andrew so much and because I want only the best for him, I do have to discipline him. It's part of being a parent. I don't particularly enjoy it, but it is necessary. So yes I do discipline him, but that discipline does not destroy his life. That discipline makes him better. That discipline, though it may hurt for a moment, in time will help him to grow stronger. It does not tear him down. It does not devastate him.

I don't pretend to even remotely understand everything that God does and does not do. I don't pretend that I understand all of the tragedies that go on in this world, but I do know that I don't believe that God causes them. Okay, well then why does God allow them? I hear this question all the time, and while I again don't pretend to have all the answers, this is what I think. If God stopped every tragedy then we would live in a perfect world, but that day that Eve took a bite of that fruit (yes, I take an extremely literal interpretation of the Bible), that day that she shared the fruit with Adam, that day that they chose to disobey God, sin entered the world. With the entrance of sin, came the entrance of tragedy into this beautiful world God created. But God had a plan, and He loves us so He sent Jesus to die for us. Did He know we would fall? Yes. But He created us because He wanted us. He wanted to have fellowship with us. He created us because that is what He does, He is the Creator. When I had my son, I knew that one day he would mess up (sometimes multiple times a day), but I still had him. Because I wanted him. I wanted a child, because God placed that desire in me, just like He desires us.

No, this does not answer all the questions about God, and the world and how it works. These are just thoughts from my head. This is not set in stone theology, nor am I saying that everyone will agree with everything I'm saying. I'm sure that, like me, a lot of you still have questions. But for me motherhood has given me a broader understanding of some of the things that happen. It has also given me a greater sensitivity to the things that go on around me. The natural disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods), the wars, the famines they will all continue to come. But I can say this I would rather go through this world with God by my side anyday than without Him. Of that there is no doubt.

Jeremiah 29:11 (New King James Version)

¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.