Dear friend,
“I have a hard time believing God always loves me.”
That alarming sentiment was what a pastoral friend of mine heard from a number of believing parents and children in his large evangelical church.
Many people felt when things were going well, God was good and loving and blessing them. But when they faced hard times, they believed God was angry with them and didn’t love them. In other words, they thought, “If God loves me, why am I having difficulties?”
Is it because they feel entitled to a comfortable existence because they are Christians? Is it because they have been victims of false teaching that taught them God only wants them rich and prosperous? Is it because they were raised in the western world that knows very little about hardship and adversity? Is it because our enemy wants believers to think this?
I don’t know all the reasons why a believer would come to think God loves them only when life is easy. But I know the Bible doesn’t teach this. In fact, it teaches quite the opposite.
There are two biblical truths we have to hold simultaneously. The first truth is what Jesus said: “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows” (John 16:33). There it is, straight from Jesus’ mouth. The fact is we are broken people living in a broken world. Broken things don’t work properly.
The second truth is that God’s love is infinite, everlasting, and unchanging. Romans 8:35, 38-39 says, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?... 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.”
I have a feeling there are a lot of believers who have yet to fully grasp the true nature of God’s love for them.
This is why our mission is to teach the truth of God’s Word at Insight for Living Canada. We declare the message of God’s unchanging love for His children, because people need to hear and believe it!
The fact that God sent His Son to die for us is a transformative message when it is understood.
When we are anchored to this marvellous truth our lives change dramatically. We can sing with sincerity the words of Priscilla Owen’s hymn, We Have an Anchor:
We have an anchor that keeps the soul, steadfast and sure while the billows roll;
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love!
Will you stand with us to help spread the message of God’s enduring love to so many across Canada who struggle to embrace it?
What better way to begin a new year than by helping proclaim the greatest truth we can ever declare! And what better message could anyone ever accept and embrace at the start of a new year than that no matter what happens in their life, God still loves them?
Anchored in His Love,
Steve Johnson
Executive Director
PS By sending Insight for Living Canada a financial gift, you participate in proclaiming the love of God and freely extending it to others across our country.
