As I worshipped in our congregation a few weeks ago, my focus was on God and His plans for my life. I want to serve Him and be an obedient child, so I was seeking His direction. Since I have been given the Spirit of God through my belief in Christ Jesus, I heard that still small voice within my Spirit give me a message. He simply said, "When you go out to eat or shop, tell those who wait on you that I love them. Tell them 'God loves you'." That was all He said to me, but it was a very clear direction. And since that day, when the sales clerk or waitress gives us the bill, that is the time that I tell them, "God loves you."
The word of God speaks of this love over and over again.
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him." The Message Translation John 3:16-18
"[ God Is Love ] My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since lovecomes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God." The Message Translation 1 John 4:8-10
Not everyone has a healthy or loving relationship with their parents or children and it may be difficult for you to grasp a loving relationship, but it is always based on trust. Children with loving parents learn that they can trust them to take care of their basic needs. The loving parent makes sure their children have food, clothing and shelter. They want their child to grow and learn, they want them to be healthy and strong, and even though they may have a child with a disability, they will continue to nurture that child and help them develop. The loving parent always seeks what is best for their child. God's love for us is the same.
As I said before, if you are living and breathing, then you are a child of Almighty God regardless of your life circumstances and you can trust in Him to take care of all your basic needs because you are His! But He wants you to acknowledge Him. A relationship is a two-way street, with both doing their part to grow the relationship.
A loving parent does all they can to provide for their children, but as the children grow so should their relationship. In a healthy parent-child relationship, the children learn to be obedient. Since the parent has the child's best interest in mind they want to protect them from harm. When they tell their young child not to cross the street alone, it's not because they don't want them to cross the street, but that they don't want them to get injured. The child learns to obey the parent because they trust them. God wants the same type of relationship with you, He wants you to trust in Him and be obedient. By reading His word you can know more about Him and His commandments. It is our way of finding out what God expects from us, His children.
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." New International Version 2 Peter 3:9
This scripture again shows us the love and patience of God for each one of us. He wants a relationship with us and He wants that relationship to grow. He wants to lavish us with good things, provide for us all that we need to mature us. Repentance is the first step to grow that relationship. It happens by accepting His offer of forgiveness of sins through a belief in Christ's atoning work on the cross and then turning from our old life to a life of obedience and trust.
There are times when it seems that God is withholding things from us that we desperately want. We ask Him for something and when we don't receive it quickly, we assume that He is being a "mean parent". But as His children, we just have to continue to trust Him.
On April 5, 2001, I wrote a prayer in my journal. I asked God to restore my hearing. It had been deteriorating for a number of years and I knew that at the rate it was going, I would be completely deaf soon. Over the next few years it declined more and more. I spent money on expensive hearing aids and was eventually told that there was nothing more that I could do. The most advanced hearing aids weren't helping anymore, but a visit to one more audiologist gave me hope. I was given the opportunity to have a cochlear implant and I jumped at the chance. On April 5, 2017, my implant was activated and I could once again hear the ticking of the clock, the singing of the birds, rain falling, people speaking. It took exactly 16 years for God to answer that prayer, but He answered it and in a miraculous way. He used technology, expert surgeons, audiologists and even my age to help me. (Medicare helped pay for the implant and I didn't have Medicare in 2001). God's timing was perfect and His love for each one of us is reliable. Trust in Him, He does indeed love you and He wants to answer your prayers.