Today's Encouragement

If God Really Loved Me…

Lysa TerKeurst

“‘Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the LORD, who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:10 (NIV)

I wonder what would happen in our lives if we really lived in the absolute assurance of God's love. I mean, as Christians we know He loves us. We sing the songs, we quote the verses, we wear the T-shirts and we sport the bumper stickers. Yes, God loves us.


I’m not talking about knowing He loves us.

I’m talking about living as if we really believe it.

I’m talking about walking confidently in the certainty of God’s love even when our feelings beg us not to.

I’m talking about training our hearts and our minds to process everything through the filter of the absolute assurance of God’s love. Period. Without the possible question mark.

Not too long ago, I had a conversation with a precious mom whose eldest daughter is nearing 30 and has never had a boyfriend. The younger siblings have all gone through the whole dating thing, and one is engaged to be married. The eldest daughter sat on the side of her mom's bed recently with tears slipping down her cheeks and asked, “Why, Mom? Why can't I find anyone to love me? What's wrong with me?”

This mom was asking me for advice in helping her daughter process these questions. These feelings are real. These feelings are tough.

And I’m sure if I were able to untangle all the emotions wrapped in and around these questions, somewhere deep inside I would find this girl doubting God's love for her.

I completely understand. In my own life, I have faced heartbreaking situations where I know God could step in and change everything in an instant. And when He doesn’t? It hurts. Deeply.

But here is what God continues to teach me — I must process disappointments through the filter of His love, not through the tangled places of my heart.

When I process things through the tangled places of my heart, often the outcome is, “If God loves me so much, why would He let this happen?”

Instead, when I process things through the filter of the absolute assurance of God’s love, the outcome is, “God loves me so much; therefore I have to trust why He is allowing this to happen.”

I took the mom’s hand who was asking for advice and told her to help her daughter rewrite the way she is processing this. It's okay to feel hurt, lonely and sad. But these feelings shouldn’t be a trigger to doubt God’s love for her. They should be a trigger to look for God’s protection, provision and possible growth opportunities.

I know this can be hard. But what if we really lived in the absolute assurance of God’s love? Oh sweet sister, in whatever you are facing today, I pray Isaiah 54:10a over you, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet [God’s] unfailing love for you will not be shaken.”