(Letter to a friend)
Dearest V,
These nine verses are a brief summary of my life. They speak volumes about how much God loves us.
Psalm 116:1-9
1 I love the LORD, because He hears my voice and my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. 3 The cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!" 5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate. 6 The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. 7 Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. 8 For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling. 9 I shall walk before the LORD In the land of the living.
I thought about what you said tonight, and it really struck a cord with me. I hear myself in your words. I don't know how many times in my life that I have struggled with believing that God really loved me. You know, we hear it all the time and we say "Yeah, sure. God loves me. That's nice." But, I've never felt worthy of His love, never felt good enough, pretty enough, important enough. Kind of figured I was a bother. After all, I was always failing. Not trying hard enough, never giving 100%. Sort of reminds me of my report cards as a child. "Georgia is not performing up to her potential" "She could be an A student if she would just apply herself"
BUT! This verse says that God hears my voice. Wow. That right there is enough for me to want to celebrate. He hears me. (Being the youngest of seven, that is a big thing.) I matter to Him so much that, amidst all the other voices, He hears ME. It's like when a little kid says, "mom, mom.....mom" and then once mom responds the little guy says everything he needs to because he knows mom is listening. She has inclined her ear to him.
David has always been the one I have associated with the most. An absolute failure in many peoples eyes, yet God loved him so much. "I was brought low, and He saved me." Falling...getting up....falling again...getting up...fall.....yeah, you get the picture. Sounds like my life. When nobody else cared, He cared. When I fell and failed (understatement) He saved me. But more importantly, He still loved me. And He still LOVES me. As imperfect and grumpy and mouthy and whiny and negative as I can be...He still loves me.
I believe that no matter how many times we fall or fail or faint or even fake, God's love for us is never ending. One thing He told me once is that His love is not like man's love. It's perfect. To me, that means it unwavering. It's not dependent on my behavior. I don't have to strive and struggle to get Him to love me. He just does. No particular reason, He just does. I can relax in that FACT. "Return to your rest, O my soul..." Chill out! Sleep peacefully! Stop striving. Stop trying to deserve it and just accept it.
Love ya,
GG
