It is amazing when we get the revelation of how much God loves us. Sometimes when we are in the valley and things don’t go our way, or when we experience tragedy, we question God’s love. We cry out “when will I get a break?” “Why did this happen to me?”, “Why all of the suffering?” And when we get no answer we are bewildered. I have realized that the more time I spend with God the more I find peace in Him. The more I can wait on answers and trust that even when I don’t get an answer, He has my best interest at heart and He has a plan. His desire is not for me to suffer, but when suffering does happen, he will cry with me and comfort me. Pain isn’t easy. There is no easy path to eliminate pain, but we do heal, or rather we can heal with God.
I now realize why I did not get comfort out of when people told me to pray and to trust in God in the past. I was unable to find that peace or feel the love of God because I was not spending any time with Him. Even now, I can tell the difference when I let life take priority over my time with God; it’s like I have to get back into the momentum so I can rest in Him. Its hard to just suddenly begin experiencing something that we don’t have any practice in if you will. In order to build trust in any relationship we must spend time with that person; deliberate, intimate time. I can’t make you understand how God gives you strength through hard times if you are not willing to spend time with God. It’s a process. It would be like me telling you to trust in a stranger, or like me telling someone completely out of shape to go for a 5-mile run to relieve his or her stress…it just doesn’t work that way. It takes time. God doesn’t want to be a stranger to us, but He doesn’t force himself on us. We have a choice. Now understand, God’s love for us already exists, we just have to grab onto it. Grab onto God’s love daily. Don’t make him your last resort because although He is there for you, you will struggle to realize it.
If you are asking yourself, “how do I spend time with God”, the answer is praying and reading your bible daily. Daily. The same way we need to eat and sleep daily, we need God.
I write this to you as I am currently going through my own grief. I lost my nephew, I lost my relationship, we are in a pandemic and many people I love are going through sickness and other types of suffering. I am holding onto God. Satan has come into my life as a distraction in so many forms, but everyday that God gives me the grace to wake up, I get a chance to spend time with Him. I am so grateful for His everlasting love.
1 John 4:19 (NKJV)
19 We love Him because He first loved us
Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)
3 You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV)
5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
You Still Love Me 