God’s Love for Us
Posted on: September 14, 2015
We may lose a loved one, a friendship, our job, or money. We may suffer illness. Our spouse may be unfaithful. When life brings sad moments, some people convince themselves that God must hate them.
As we read in Wisdom 11:24-26*, they couldn’t be more wrong:
For you love all things that exist,
and you loathe none of the things which you have made,
for you would not have made anything if you had hated it.
How would anything have endured if you had not willed it?
Or how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved?
You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord who love the living.
In our culture, there seems to be a belief that, if we follow Jesus, we’ll never have to face challenges or loss or hardship—that, if we’re “good Christians,” we’ll know only blessings. But God doesn’t promise us that, as just a few examples from the Bible show us:
- Sarah and Abraham (Genesis 21:1-7), Hannah and Elkanah (1 Samuel 1:1-20) and Elizabeth and Zechariah (Luke 1:5-25) waited years to have a child.
- Jacob’s wife Rachel died in childbirth (Genesis 35:16-20).
- Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers (Genesis 37:12-36).
- The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt (Exodus 1:8-14).
- Except for John, who died in exile, all the apostles were martyred, beginning with James (Acts 12:2).
In fact, Jesus tells that we may face challenges because we follow him (Matthew 5:10-12):
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
What Jesus does promise us is that he will be with us:
“If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)
“Behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
When we struggle with the challenges life brings, I pray that we would take comfort in remembering just how much God loves us and draw strength from the truth that he will always be with us.
(*Scripture quotes and references taken from the Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition.)
A Catholic Convert in Ottawa 