To love like God, you first have to know God loves you and how he loves you!
So, there has to be a disconnect for unbelievers because they don’t know the love of God.
When our world seems to come crashing down around us, it can seem cold, unfair, unforgiving, impersonal. If we don’t understand God’s love, it’s easy to blame him for our misfortune. We might curse him. This is when we respond to a God we created in our own image. We respond to who we think he is.
But, if we turn to him as the true and faithful God that we know, we understand his love for us.
Our scripture for this sermon is Psalm 139: 1-16
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I set and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.
You hem me in-behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Five things we need to know about God no matter what the world tells us.
- God knows you completely
- God loves you absolutely
- God is with you always
- God takes care of you
- God knows your story before it unfolds
Many times we’re misunderstood by people. But, just as David wrote, God has personal knowledge of each of us. He created us. He has a vested interest in us. Sometimes we may not understand ourselves, but God knows us completely. He knows our thoughts and the words we’ll say before we even say them. He knows what we’re thinking.
We will disappoint ourselves when we don’t meet our expectations. We may think God doesn’t understand us, but he does. He understands why we’re insecure. He knows your insecurities and struggles. He understands why you are the way you are. He knows you completely and loves you absolutely.
No matter the circumstances, God is still with us. Remember the Prodigal Son, Samson, and Jonah? They all realized you can’t run from God. He won’t let go. You’ve survived the worst day of your life and God was with you.
The god we create in our mind out of fear tries to catch us doing something wrong. But this isn’t the God who created us. He loves us unconditionally and corrects out of love, not as a watchdog. He’s a caretaker.
God knows your story before its even written. There is nothing that you can do that will surprise him. He knows your joys, celebrations, heartache, and devastation. His knowing every word, every page, every chapter of your story doesn’t guarantee that it will all be joyous. But, it does guarantee that your story will never know a moment that doesn’t have Him in it. There’s not a page or chapter in your story that he doesn’t know about.
You are not alone. God has been there to catch every tear, to share every laugh. He’s heard every cry. For God so loved the world…and you are His world.
When I think about how God loves me despite my faults and loves me unconditionally, I realize how fortunate I am to know it. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have no hope for the future. And I’m so glad that he wants to have a personal relationship with me.
In Faith,
Pam
Where God Leads 