She asked our circle of Girlfriends if they struggle to believe God loves them.
This dear one, she is a serious student. She loves reading and questioning and grappling with Bible truths that can be mysteriously gray. She doesn’t shy away from controversial topics, and happily, she fits perfectly into the weekly circle of coffee/tea drinkers who come to share our Bible journals each week.
We vulnerably share a specific, appropriate entry knowing it will be accepted with grace. We all realize our faith walk really is a constant journey of discovering one truth after another.
We never expect each other to always “get it right.” Grace and honesty envelope us. So asking a hard question – or an “easy” one gets our full attention, without criticism.
Sometimes in the very middle of the hard investigating, we can forget the most important question of all: Does God love me?
Is anything more important than being confident of God’s love? If we are self-aware at all, we realize asking if He loves us… still… is a worthy wondering. Because we know what we have done and thought and what struggles and temptations face us.
The answers of love from around the table came with gentleness and truth. Romans 8 was a spontaneous beginning:
THE QUESTION: Verse 35 “Can anything separate us from God’s love?
THE ANSWER: Verse 38-39
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. “
That’s the beautiful basis of what we need to know about God. But one author-friend of mine (I call her friend only because she blesses me so) inspired me to pause long enough to take note of God’s daily love. Ann Voskamp’s book, 1,000 Gifts caused me to fall more in love with Jesus than ever before.
After a childhood of ugly pain, a friend challenged Ann to begin listing gifts – 1,000 specific ways God loves her. I accepted the challenge, too, and have been transformed by it.
Ann says, “God whispers His love, and I murmur my thanks,” and that becomes her prayer without ceasing.
This morning I awoke to a lovely message from my curious, humble, God-seeking friend. She simply texted:
“God shows me He loves me today because I can hear the birds outside my window!!
Thank you, Clarice.”
What a wonderful beginning to a day of anticipating fresh ways to see the Creator’s love and respond with a grateful thanks.
TO CONSIDER: In a quiet moment today, could you list ten gifts in your life you’d miss if they were absent tomorrow?
