Aug 30, 2019 Words of Grace- When Seeing is Hearing
We have all heard that actions speak louder than words. God’s action is his word. We hear his voice by seeing his deeds.
Romans 5:8 says that God demonstrated his love for us by sending his Son Jesus to die for us while we were sinners. God did not wait for us to make amends, straighten up, or even ask for help. He acted to save us independently of any desire or effort on our part to be saved. He sent his Son to be crucified while we were in sin and doing nothing to get out of it. Sending Christ is the definition of God’s love and the way he communicated it to us.
So, why is it that we often wonder if God really loves us? One reason is that the experiences of life threaten our sense of God’s love. Some of these experiences are listed in Romans 8:35; tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword. These are hardships, problems, and matters of life and death. How are we to hear and sense that God loves us when we experience these things?
By seeing the cross. In all of these hard experiences of life we conquer the fear of being separated from God’s love by seeing how he loved us in Christ. If God loved us enough to send his Son to die for us while we were still in sin, then how can the trials of life mean that he does not love us still?
Today you may be struggling to hear God’s voice telling you that he loves you. You may be praying with King David to hear of God’s steadfast love in the morning (Psalm 143:8), but you feel beaten down by life, or pressed down by your own voice of condemnation. Maybe fear of the future or of someone is drowning out the sound of God’s love for you. What do you do?
Look to Christ, again. To hear the love of God you have to see the cross of Christ. Catch yourself questioning God’s love or demanding that he prove it in some way other than in the saving work of Christ. He has acted in love by giving Christ for you and by giving you all the benefits of the cross (forgiveness of sin, friendship with God, a place in God’s family, the open door of prayer, and eternal life). Keep looking at Christ with the eyes of the heart until you hear with the ears of your heart that God loves you and he always will.
May the peace and hope that comes from hearing the steadfast love of God hold you fast in all things.
I am praying with you this weekend for our worship gathering on Sunday.
-Scott