I’m reading a book called ‘He Loves Me’ by Wayne Jacobsen, kindly loaned to me by another Christian, and in the book, the author comments that many Christians seem to have a view of God like that of a child pulling petals off a daisy: ‘He loves me, he loves me not.’ We recognise that this age-old method of deciding if someone loves us or not is actually ridiculous, but for all that, we can go through life being unsure of God’s love for us as a constant. It’s easy enough to believe He loves us on the days when the sun is shining and all is going well in our lives, but when sorrow and confusion come into our lives, we can often wonder if God loves us then. Our view of God can be almost wholly dictated to by circumstances if we are not careful, and since circumstances change and fluctuate, our lives can be very volatile and decidedly mercurial, resulting in bitterness, unhappiness, unrealistic expectations and misery.
The Bible reassures us that God loves us all the time, even during those dark periods, and tells us that nothing will be able to separate us from His love. (Rom 8:31-39) The daisy-petal method of ascertaining God’s love may be flawed; the answer to the question is a resounding ‘He loves me!’
Knowing we are loved all the time is immensely liberating. It means we no longer serve God in order to win His favour and approval, fearful that if we don’t do X or Y, He will cast us away. It means we no longer manipulate people, desperate for their approval and love, because we operate from the security of being loved rather than needing their love to survive. It means we can walk through trials and sorrows, confident that even the most difficult circumstances will result in something positive and constructive (Rom 8:28). Being loved is the most important factor in a person’s life, and even if we have not known that love from parents, spouse, children or friends, we have never been unloved. God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us so that we can be restored to that relationship with Him for which we were created. That’s good news indeed!
