God loves you!

​          God loves you! There is nothing you can do to change that fact, there is nothing you can do to make Him hate you. Our God loves us ... no matter what! I watched an interview on the 700 Club interactive featuring renowned worship leader, Don Moen. He shared the story behind his very popular song “God will make a way.” It turns out that this song was born out of tragic circumstances. His wife’s sister, her husband and their children were hit by an eighteen-wheeler truck. One of their children died. In an effort to comfort them, he composed this song which he sang for them. A few years later he sang it for the staff at Integrity Music where he was working at the time and was encouraged to record it because everyone was so touched by it. It became one of his most popular songs. 
         As he put it, although written because of tragedy, it is not a song of desperation but declaration. When he asked God to give him something to bring hope to his family in their hopeless situation, he opened his Bible and Isaiah 43:18-19 jumped out at him: “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” And, right then and there, he composed the lyrics and melody to this song. 
         I don’t know about you but right there in this story of tragedy I see God’s love. He may not have prevented the tragedy from happening but used it as an opportunity to reveal His deep love and His strength in a time of sadness, hopelessness and despair. Only God...!!! God is the only One who can and will give us beauty in exchange for our ashes; the only One who will give us joy in exchange for our mourning (Isaiah 61:3); the only One who can create something beautiful out of something negative to provide hope and encouragement not just to us but to others as well. No, your pain is not wasted; your tragedy is not wasted. God will take it all and do something beautiful with it. 
         The lyrics of the song are as follows:
         God will make a way where there seems to be no way
         He works in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me
         He will be my guide, hold me closely to His side
         With love and strength for each new day
         He will make a way, He will make a way.
As I look at Isaiah 43:18-19, I see a God who will do everything in His power to help us, encourage us, strengthen us. Think about the not so pleasant things you have been through. It may have been tough, may still be tough, but today you are still standing in spite of it all. God gives us strength when we need it, when we wonder how in the world we are going to make it. He offers us hope in those impossible situations. He showers us with His love which enables us to keep going, keep trusting, keep holding on when it seems like we should just let go. God doesn’t want us to fix our focus on the past and all the unpleasant things that reside there. He wants us to focus on the future of hope He has planned for us. He will do it. We can’t! That’s just a fact. He will do the impossible. As Isaiah says, He will do a new thing; He will make a road (a way) in the wilderness; He will make rivers in the desert. He will satisfy us and fulfil us in those dry and difficult seasons ... He will do it! 
         But, I want us to think about something. We go out of our way for those we love. We try to make things right for them when things go wrong. Guess what? God loves us so much that He will do anything in His power to bring good to us. He desires to make us happy. He desires to take away our hurt. Sometimes we can’t see him working as the song suggests, but He is working, shifting, moving things around, putting things in place to bring the best to us out of our hurt and heartache. God gives His all, His best for us because He loves us. He makes impossible situations possible; He creates new and beautiful things out of what is broken, trampled upon, smeared with filth ... God holds us, comforts us, guides us ... loves us. His love for us never fails!
         If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so now. God loves you and is waiting for you to step into His open arms so that He can take care of you, comfort you, love you. You can’t stop God from loving you. You would be wasting your time if you tried!!! 

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