The first thing I’ll share that I have learned in this year of difficulty is going to sound simplistic. It is something we all know, but may not totally grasp. I AM LOVED BY GOD. I am not just loved in some ordinary way, but I am loved as a son. The truth is we are not just loved ‘as if’ we are children of God – we are children of God! How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!
Granted, we are adopted, but does that diminish the love of the Father? I have two friends that have something in common. Each has one son by birth and one son that was adopted. I asked these fathers if they loved the son by birth more than the one adopted. The reaction was the same – “Of course not!” I felt a little stupid asking the question, but I’m glad I did. The passion expressed as these parents told of their love for their sons was powerful. Now if we, who are evil, know how to love our children, how much more does the Father in Heaven love us? (see Luke 11:11-13) Is it possible that God loves me in the same manner that He loves Jesus? It is true and I should believe it!
If anyone talked to my parents this past year, one thing would have been clear: they loved their son that was battling cancer. So often, while I was as sick as could be, I could feel my father’s hand on my back or I could hear his comforting voice. When he was at his own house in Chattanooga and I could not hear him or see him, I still knew his love for me was strong. So why are we tempted to question our Heavenly Father’s love when troubles come? We believe in a God who has all power. We sing that He is in control. But if He loves me so, how could He let me have cancer? Jesus understands our questions because He suffered on this earth. He intercedes for us with perfect prayers as a fellow sufferer and He models the perfect attitude the children of God should possess. “My Father loves me. I may not understand why I am going through this, but I will trust Him. I love my Father and I’ll do whatever He says.”
Though He was sinless, the Father chose to teach His Son through suffering. “Though He was a son, He learned obedience from the things that He suffered.” I don’t know that I fully understand this, but we all know that difficulty can produce good. Though the world may question God, the child, by faith, can know that God’s love never fails. Don’t you know as Jesus was whipped, spit upon, and nailed to the cross, many were thinking, “This can’t be the Son of God – no all-powerful Father would let His Son go through such torture!”? But Jesus knew God’s ways are not man’s ways. He entrusted Himself to the will of the Father – and aren’t we glad He did?
If God allowed His only begotten Son to suffer, would He permit His adopted children to go through difficulties? The answer seems obvious, but the test comes in believing that, no matter how dark the cloud, God’s love never wavers. Even on his death bed, a child of God can say with all confidence, “He loves me.”