What do you think is the one word God would use to describe how he feels about you, specifically? Think about that for a minute.
I read a study on this topic and I guess the word that was most common didn’t really surprise me. Because it was the word that I thought of first, too. Did you come up with something?
The most common word that Christians said they believed God felt, when he thought about them, was “disappointed”.
Isn’t that something? Logic might lead you to believe the word should be “love”. As Christians we’re taught that God loves us no matter what. But I think it’s a lot easier to believe that’s true in the general sense like, yeah God loves us all…
But it’s not quite as easy to believe that he loves each of us, specifically and individually.
Doing God’s Will
We may come to accept that God loves us, but deep down, I think we often have a sense that he has so much more for us, that we just aren’t accessing. That we are disappointing him somehow, that we could be doing more for others and receiving more blessings if we would just trust God and submit to his will.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways submit to him, and he will make straight your paths. Pr. 3:5-6
I so struggle with the ‘trust’ and ‘submission’ part of that scripture, which of course go hand-in-hand. I think trust, submission and obedience are the big three when it comes to showing God our faith.
My own real problem is in obedience. I feel like I know there are certain things God wants me to do, but because of fear I can’t bring myself to do them. I say I trust, I want to submit, but ultimately I fail in obedience. Why? Fear of failure, mostly. Because I worry about what others will think of me, even though I feel that God wants me to do certain things.
Maybe there is a reason so many of us answer the above question with “disappointed”. Because perhaps, it is half-true. Maybe God Is disappointed. Thinking about this earlier, I came up with…when I do not obey God, and submit to his will, doing what I know he wants me to do, he is not disappointed IN me, he is disappointed FOR me.
BIG difference.
It’s like with our own kids. When we watch them venture into the world and try new things; whether it’s joining a group of toddlers at preschool, saying ‘yes’ to taking off the training wheels on their bike…or later; trying out for the basketball team, volunteering at church, or auditioning for the school play…we’re so happy that our kids are willing to step out. When they decide not to try something that we know they would really benefit from, we’re not disappointed IN them, we’re disappointed FOR them. For a missed opportunity.
It’s no different with God.
Trust Over Fear
He has so many good things in store for us, if we would just listen for his voice, trust him, and act in obedience. Yes, it can be scary, yes it’s weird sometimes, yes, we might fail…But how will you ever know if you don’t step out?
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, and are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
If we never trust God and take a leap of faith, we’ll never know what good thing we might have been able to participate in.
Fear of failure is a huge stumbling block for so many of us. But God’s love for us is not tied to our success. He loves me right now as much as he ever will. And if I obey and do everything he asks of me, and all kinds of wonderful things happen because of my obedience, God is still not going to love me anymore than he loves me right this minute. That is such a difficult thing to fathom! But it is a truth that is in Scripture, and for me it’s one of the hardest things to accept. That no matter what I do God loves me. And he loves you.
Thank goodness he gave us children and parenthood to give us a small shadow, an echo of what he feels for us. But it’s just that – an echo. God’s love is infinitely bigger than the love that we can ever possibly dream of possessing, even for our own children. Because God Is love. He’s the source of all love, he invented it. Without him, being loved, or loving someone else would not be possible.
This is why “LOVE” should be the word that we know God feels, when he thinks of us.
So, back to trusting God. What are you sensing that God is telling you to do? I felt prompted in my heart to write this blog. And I’ve been resisting it and I’ve been putting it off. And I’ve been hesitating. But no more. For Lent, I’m going to jump in and do it. I’m going to try to post every week. And I ask you to join me because I really need your feedback. (Please subscribe, top right, for notifications of posts →)
But I’ll also ask you to join me in searching your own heart for what you really feel and really sense God is asking of you. And then going out there and doing it. Don’t worry, he’ll direct your steps, he’ll guide you – he’s got your back. #TrustHim