Brethren, let us not judge how much God loves us by how things seem to be going in our lives. Don’t think God doesn’t love you because this or that bad thing happened to you.
On the contrary, everything could be going perfectly well. We could legitimately say to ourselves, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” But the truth could be that we don’t realize we are “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17).
Or everything could be going miserably. Just read Genesis and check out Joseph’s life.
Here’s another story. When the apostles were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus was with them but asleep on a cushion, “a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.” The apostles woke him and cried out, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” But Jesus “rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:37-39). Of course Jesus cared about his apostles! Of course he cared that they were “perishing,” that they might drown! Of course he loved them! But he asked them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:40). In other words, Jesus was saying to them, why are you afraid? Don’t you trust me? Don’t you trust that I love you? Don’t you trust the promises in Scripture that I love you and will take care of you?
And, of course, who among us would deny that the Father didn’t love the Son when Jesus Christ died on the cross? No, it was precisely because of the Father’s love for the Son, and the Son’s love for the Father, that the Son died on the cross.
Therefore, if we are one of his children, then let us never say that God doesn’t love us because this or that bad thing occurred. Rather, let us judge how much God loves us by the cross. As Paul said in Rom. 5:8, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Let Christ’s death on the cross for us sinners anchor us in the certainty of God’s love for us in the midst of the raging seas of our trials, afflictions, and griefs. And let us always trust the Lord by trusting his word, and thank our gracious Heavenly Father that he knows what’s best, and therefore glorify him in the midst of it all.
