God's Love

 I've been struggling a lot lately with God's love for me. I know he loves me but sometimes its just so hard for me to believe because, honestly, sometimes I don't love me. His love seems too good to be true. I've been reading 1 Samuel and I came across something this morning that kinda hit me hard.

The back story is this....Samuel is a prophet and he had set up his sons to be judges over Israel and kind of run things. The people were not happy with this so they came to Samuel and demanded a king. They wanted to be like all the other nations around them. They wanted a king to judge them and lead them into battle. Up until this point, God had done this for them. He had brought the Israelites out of Egypt and rescued them from the Egyptians and all the other nations that were oppressing them, but this was no longer enough for them. When Samuel went to speak to the Lord about this the Lord told Samuel that they weren't rejecting him but that they were rejecting God and that they didn't want God as their king any longer. So God told Samuel to warn the people ahead of time about what a king would do once he had rule over them, but the people were so fixated on having a king and being like the other nations they didn't care. They wanted a king and that was that. So God gave them a king..Saul...he is a whole nother story all together...but God said this to Samuel when he was telling him of Saul's arrival..."He will rescue them from the Philistines, for I have looked down on my people in mercy and have heard their cry." (1Samuel 8-10)

Don't you think this broke God's heart? The Israelites were his chosen people; his special possession but they didn't want him any more. His rule as king wasn't enough. So how do you think God would respond? I know how I might respond...I might be hurt and angry and draw away emotionally and physically, but that's not what God did. God heard the cry of his people and looked on them in mercy....MERCY, not anger, or contempt or resentment. Heck, he's God, creator of all the universe, he would have been completely justified to wipe these people off the face of the planet for rejecting him...but that's not who God his....God loves us unconditionally...no matter what. He gave the people what they wanted. He heard their cry. Even though they rejected him, he still loved them and saw them through the eyes of mercy and heard their cry. How amazing is that!
This is true of God even today...I can assure you that I am not perfect and I have failed God in many ways and still do, I have rejected him and wanted things of this world as my king and not him, but he loves me anyway not matter what I have done or will do. Which brings me to this...God sent Jesus, who was completely rejected and hung on a cross even though he never committed a crime or sin of any kind. Jesus loved all of us enough to die a brutally painful death and God allowed this to happen. He gave up his ONE and ONLY SON, so that we could be made right with him and so that we could have fellowship and relationship with God again. If all God ever did for anyone was to save them in this way, it was enough for all eternity. God owes us nothing, but we owe him EVERYTHING! He loves us at our highest highs and lowest lows. He loves us when we are absolutely unlovable; when we are dirty and covered in sin and rejection of him. Now that is a love that I would call unbelievable...but the amazing part is that its not too good to be true.. IT'S REAL! And even though I struggle with it sometimes, I know and believe it to be true. God loves you and wants relationship with you...you'll never find another love like on earth. No human love can compare to God's perfect love.

<3 Lauren