Oh, how blessed I am.
This has been a focus of my heart lately. I keep getting hit with such great realizations of how deeply I am loved by God. And the funny thing is, the times when I’m reminded of this the most are the times I’m feeling the least worthy of that love. It’s when I’m convicted of my sinfulness that I’m also reminded of His kindness towards me.
There’s so much selfishness in me, and bitterness, and pride. My decisions are often shaped by love for myself before love for others and for God. And yet, over and over again I find God seeking me out and walking alongside me. He’s faithful to me and patient with me, because He loves me.
I become aware of this truth when I see the amazing people and circumstances He’s blessed me with.
Or when He sits beside me through a hard situation, offering me the peace and strength that I would never find on my own.
Or when I look back in my life and see the connections between what God was doing in me then and what He’s calling me to now…when His purpose for me becomes just a little clearer.
Most of all, I recognize God’s desire for me when I read His Word. Whenever I feel him actively drawing my attention to the specific truth that I need in that exact moment, I see His consideration for me.
After all, if He didn’t love me, He wouldn’t bother to teach me in such a gently convicting way. But instead, God’s love is evidenced for me in the ways He intentionally grows me, challenges me, and pursues me. He is truly invested in me – how incredible is that?
But this is not just true in my life; God’s deep, inexhaustible love is for every single one of us. God has a purpose for each of us, if we will let Him work in our lives.
God desires you and is invested in you, and He has a good plan designed for you – do you believe that?
It can be hard at times to let this truth really take hold in our lives. We may feel worthless and unloved, anxious at the future, condemned by our sin, or held back by self-centered pride. Sometimes I lose my sense of joy at what God is doing, especially during the routine moments in my life. But regardless of where our hearts are, God is still our Father, and He is still full of love for us.
When we feel unworthy or unloved by others, we can remember that the holy, all-knowing God knows us fully and loves us fully. He took care to form us in the womb; He knew us before we were ever born. And He knows just who He wants us to become.
When we aren’t sure what’s next in our future, and we’re afraid of making a mistake, we can remember that God has a plan in store for us. He has set out good works for us to do and He will guide our paths; we must simply trust and submit to His will.
When we feel weighed down and controlled by our sin, we can remember that we’re forgiven and loved. Jesus knew every sin we’d ever commit, and He died for us anyway. He’s invested in us enough to not only give us eternal salvation, but to also give the daily grace and power we need to resist temptation and grow in godly character.
And when we fall into the trap of self-righteousness, we can remember the humbling truth that nothing we could ever do would make us worthy of God’s love. It is only because it’s in His very nature to love that we’re loved by Him. He loves each of us – not because of who we are, but because of who He is. And He commands us to cast aside our pride and to love others as unflinchingly as we’ve been loved.
When it’s hard for you to feel God’s love, I encourage you – and myself, while I’m at it – to think back on all the times God’s worked in your life (and to remember that He’s at work even when we don’t recognize it).
Any time He’s protected you from harm, given you the strength to endure a hard time, revealed His character to you through Scripture, blessed you with good, encouraging friends, or convicted you of sin – this is evidence of His love for you! This is proof that He looks at you with fatherly affection, and that He is invested in you.
So walk through today with the confidence of someone that is known and loved by God. Know that God is for you and not against you, and that He has a plan for you.
Related Scripture
Numbers 6:24-26
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.”
Psalm 31:19
“How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, before the sons of men!”
Psalm 34:8
“O taste and see that the Lord is good, how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.”
Psalm 56:9
“…This I know, that God is for me.”
Isaiah 54:10
“‘For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,’ says the Lord who has compassion on you.”
Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…”
Jeremiah 29:11
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future.’”
Matthew 6:26
“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”
Romans 8:28
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:38-39
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us form the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Ephesians 2:4-7
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:10
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
1 John 4:19
“We love, because He first loved us.”
The Girl that Jesus Loved 