Think about that for a minute because it is powerful!
Read Again...
Your circumstance does not coincide with how God feels about you.
Do you have a circumstances that keep you up late at night, bring you to your knees in despair, and cause you great stress? Do you look into the future and wonder how you are going to get through? When other people are making plans for retirement, or traveling with a spouse, or having quality time with the kids, does your heart break a little because you can't even imagine making plans like that due to your circumstances?
Prayer is powerful, but most of the time we are in a waiting pattern when it comes to prayers that we need answers to right away. Our comfort and peace of mind depends on answers to tough questions, yet the answers don't come fast and easy. Quite often the answers come in a way that is not what we expected, or maybe even want.
These are the times when we wonder where God is, and why He does not come in and save the day for us. We are in pain, suffering, agonizing... and God is quiet.
This is when you need to know deep in your heart and soul that your pain and suffering does not coincide with how God feels about you. Simply put, God loves you more than you could even fathom. He loves you more than YOU love your family. Your love can't even begin to reach the depth of God's love for all people.
Proof?
God sacrificed his Son for you. He paid the ultimate price for your salvation. His great love is shown through the life of Jesus.
More proof?
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—
God Loves and Cares For Us
Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Job 34:19 who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?
Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Many people do not have written proof of the love someone feels for them. God has an entire book!! the verses above are just a sample of God's love! Why then do we suffer?
We want a carefree life. When circumstances happen that cause us pain, God is there wanting to work on our behalf. We have to constantly remind ourselves that God loves us. He does not cause our suffering, but will use suffering to deepen our need for Him, or grow us in way that we can be more purposeful, and He asks us to share our pain and be sensitive to others who are in pain.
I know I have to keep remembering that I am God's precious child and for some reason He wants to use my cancer, and maybe shingles, to be sensitive and purposeful when talking with others. My real desire is for Him to take it away soon!
The house for me is quiet these days. The kids are back to school and I am finally getting caught up on e-mails and paperwork that covered my desk all summer. There are more college tours, with Rachel, and things to do before applications are turned in. Michelle is busy with club soccer and softball. It is fun to see them grow, but sometimes sad on how fast life has gone with them.
Last week they had to delay chemo due to low platelets. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be back on track. It was nice to have a week of. Still tired from meds that I take for shingles. I hope that horrible disease will clear up soon.
Remember, God loves you!
Sandy
