08 Jan How to Rest in God’s Love
Tim Russert told this story, sent to him by an adult daughter wanting to honor her elderly father, in his heartwarming book, The Wisdom of Our Fathers.
My dad loved the fact that he had two daughters, And although we were by no means wealthy, he spoiled us as much as he could. He was a tailor who came over from Italy as a boy. He and my mother worked hard each day in their little cleaning and tailor shop. He never said no to me, even when he should have.
When my husband was in Vietnam and I was pregnant, I lived with my parents. Dad would come into my room in the morning with a cup of coffee for me, and he would come in again at night and kiss me. I always pretended to be sleeping. He had done this when I was a child, and he continued to do it as long as I was in his house. There are a lot of great fathers out there, but mine could be tender without saying a word.
The degree to which we perceive God as a loving heavenly Father, as this girl did, we will rest in His love for us even during the hard times. If we do not perceive God as a loving heavenly Father, we will not rest in His love, even during the easy times.
The problem is, of course, that sometimes life can be so hard for us that we feel we must not have a loving heavenly Father watching over us… because if we did, He would take pity on us and help us out.
The problem is, God’s love is so complex, so lofty, so celestial, that our earthly, feel-good, give-it-to-me-now concept of love doesn’t fit. So, one of the challenges of life on earth for Christians is to accept and believe that God is close at hand, loves us, and is emotionally invested in our welfare even when things are going hard for us.
The key is to focus on the ultimate outcome of our lives, rather then the intermediate struggle… just as the key in weight loss or physical fitness or learning to play a musical instrument is to focus on the ultimate goal instead of the intermediate struggle.
I’ve learned that there are five fundamental truths from Scripture that can give us strength and encouragement to endure the intermediate struggles of life’s challenges.
How to Rest in God’s Love:
- God hurts when we hurt
When Jesus was told that His friend, Lazarus, was dead, He wept (John 11:35). Why? He knew that Lazarus was dead before He got there! He knew that He was going to raise him from the dead! Even so, Jesus was touched by the sadness of the circumstance and was moved by it.
He was “close at hand” with his friends’ suffering and was emotionally invested in what was happening. He cared deeply. God hurts when we hurt.
- God will cause all things to work together for good
Even when bad things happen, God will bring good out of them.
In Romans 8:58, we read, “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.”
It is not that all things are good. Quite to the contrary! Many things are very bad. But God will take bad things and cause good to come from them.
When Joni Erickson was a teenager, she dived into a lake, struck her head on a submerged log, and was permanently paralyzed. She has lived life as a quadriplegic. But God has used that tragedy to transform her into one of this generation’s most impactful leaders, touching lives for Christ around the world. She gives eloquent testimony to the grace and goodness and love of God.
The same transformation happened to Corrie ten Boom, Chuck Colson, Brother Andrew and a host of other well-known Christians, as well as a multitude of Christians who are not well-known, but can testify to the same. The Christian world is full of similar stories in which God took something very bad and transformed it into something that is very good.
- God will use trials to transform us into powerful and joyful children
James said, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing(1:2-4).
As heat refines gold, removing the impurities and bringing out its full beauty, so trials refine the lives of Christians, removing our impurities and bringing out our full spiritual beauty.
- God will transform our trials into ministry to others
In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, we read, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
God takes our pain, transforms our lives through it, and then uses us to help transform the lives of others with similar experiences.
I mentioned Chuck Colson above. He was sent to prison for crimes he committed as President Nixon’s chief counsel. During the time of upheaval to his life prior to his conviction, a friend lead him to Christ. But, he still went to prison! However, even in prison, God performed His work of grace and transformation in Colson’s life, and when he got out of prison he formed Prison Fellowship, a ministry that has been used of the Lord to transform lives and prison reform around the world!
- God will reward us disproportionately for our pain
The apostle Paul, wrote, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).
This is a man who was shipwrecked, beaten and left for dead, attacked by animals, imprisoned, and left cold and hungry many times. Yet even such a hard life is nothing compared with the disproportionate blessings awaiting him in heaven.
Conclusion Timothy Keller wrote that when we stand before the Lord, “the worst things that ever happened to you will in the end only enhance your eternal delight. The joy of your glory will be that much greater for every scar you bear.”
In that day, we will fully understand how fully our Heavenly Father has loved us all along.
I encourage you to commit these five truths from Scripture to memory and meditate on them. They will help you to rest in God’s love until that final day comes!
For more information on the importance of committing biblical truths to memory and meditation, download my video, Master the Bible So Well That the Bible Masters You, which is currently free to my email subscribers.
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