Feeling the Unfailing Love

How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

                      Psalm 36:7

Unfailing love is almost considered an oxymoron in our society these days. The love that most people know fails, cheats, lies, abuses, degrades and has conditions. It serves only selfish purposes and does not offer any protection or care.

This is why the priceless, unfailing love of God is not easy to comprehend for most people, myself included. Even if you are accustomed to good relationships with people you love, our human love is not perfect and it does fail because we fail.

But the beauty of God's love is that no matter what I do, what I accomplish or how I look, He will never love me any more or any less than the day He sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. Do you believe that? Do you live as if you believe it?

After reading Renee Swope's A Confident Heart, her statement on page 54 that says "I needed the knowledge of His unfailing love to move from my head to my heart," was something that jumped out at me. I know that feeling. 

I have never known life without the knowledge of God's love for me and I value having been taught that from an early age. But because it's something that I've known of for so long, I have often felt that God and His love for me are not necessarily something I feel deeply in my heart. 

And I know that I'm not alone in this. I've had people that have been Christians for both a long time and a short time express the same concerns to me. They ask me, "How do I feel God's love and a love for Him?" To be honest, I don't have any easy answers. 

But this I do know. God desires to have a relationship with me. He wants me to be on fire for Him. He wants me to yearn to spend time with him daily. He wants to be my very best friend and be in constant communication with me. So because I trust that He wants me in all those ways, I know that if I study His Word and pray to Him, expressing my desire to "feel", He will be faithful in helping me get to that place. 

I can see Him doing this in my life, slowly and surely. And He will do it for you too! So surround yourself in the promises of God. Talk to Him. Tell Him your concerns, fears and struggles. He won't fail you or fail to love you. 

Surrounded With The Truth

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
                John 4:23


Do you struggle with self-doubt, insecurity and feelings of worthlessness? I do. I've blogged about this topic before, but it's worth revisiting because I think it's a very common problem, especially among women. And it's something I have to deal with every day of my life.

It's so easy to pin our value as a person on what we accomplish, how we dress or who our friends are. But as I've been reading and studying A Confident Heart by Renee Swope, I've unearthed some of the hard truths about my insecurities and doubts.

I've discovered that one of my earliest doubts was whether or not I was going to be safe. I've learned that my insecurities keep me from being myself and having fun. I don't know what it's like not to worry if I'm good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, etc. And that I'm scared. Scared of being radically different.

I'm sure some of your own doubts and insecurities are popping up in your mind now. They may be to a lesser degree than mine are, but none the less, they hinder you in some way. And if you're like me, you may feel overwhelmed just thinking about what you feel hinders you.

But stay with me!

We don't have to stay in this place. We don't have to sentence ourselves to living never feeling like we're enough. Because above everything we doubt and dislike about ourselves, and what we think others doubt and dislike about us, is the truth.

The truth is not what we think, what others think, but what God thinks. God tells me I'm a masterpiece (Isa 62:3). He tells me I'm never alone (Deut. 31:6). He tells me I'm precious (Isa 43:4).

But do I believe Him? Do I live like I believe Him? Honestly, no. I know I believe Him a bit more than I did last year at this time, but I still have a long way to go. Each day is a battlefield in my mind, so I've chosen to surround myself with truth.

How? I'm taking it one step at a time. This week, when I encountered a truth that I felt God wanted me to believe about myself, I wrote it on a heart sticky note and placed it around my bathroom mirror.

How will you apply God's truth to your life and take steps toward believing who you really are?