Reason #233

Jesus loves me, this I know. For the bible tells me so...

Our pastor brought this topic up during the sermon today. Child-like faith. How simple and easy it is but we complicate it with our human ways and ideas. And so often we wonder why. Why this or why that? How do you know the answer or even what the definite answer is? I'm a thinker, I like to know. I like certainty. I don't want to guess, I don't want to cross my fingers and hope. I want a concrete yes or no. But it doesn't always work like that. All children grow up.

I miss the simplicity of being a child. Decisions were less, and they were easier to make, too. Rarely do children make life-altering decisions on a regular basis. Most decisions consist of regular milk or chocolate milk, play inside or play outside. Either option will work, either option will be fine. Truthfully, there's really not a bad option, rather it's just a preference. And if you don't really know what to do, what seems best, you can pick one and be just as safe as if you had picked the other.

But adulthood comes all too quickly and with the increase in age comes an increase in decisions. And some times you just don't know. You make a decision and regret it. You look back later and realize it was the wrong one. But it's too late. And some times, right in the middle of it all, you don't know where it went wrong. Because there are occasions in life when you don't have a win/win situation. There are occasions when you have to just go with what seems right at the moment. But you never really know before-hand. Thanks to human error, to imperfect though processes and ulterior motives, it's really hard to be certain some times.

And so it seems too easy to just believe and trust with that child-like faith because we live in a world that allows us options, lets us change our mind. We also serve a God who gives us free will, and so we do always have a choice. I like to know I'm making the right one. Ideally, I'd like to have a fast forward option so that I could get a peek of what the outcome is before I make up my mind. So I get caught up in the knowing, in the "what if's" and "why's" and maybe it's because I'm looking out for #1. Maybe it's because I'm just trying to protect myself and keep out of harm's way. But maybe it's because I've forgotten what I really do know. Because I know that God has a plan for my life, I know that He has a purpose for me, I know that He guards me, I know that He goes before me, I know that He is on my side, I know that He works for the good in all things, and I know that He loves me. How do I know? Well, I could give examples, get analytical, try to pin down a definite answer and wrap my mind around it, but I know because the bible tells me so. The words, the scripture that is living and God breathed, tells me those things. And although I so often forget these truths because I desire to wrap my brain around it, because my circumstances look different than I imagined, because I lose faith by getting caught up in what I don't know, I am so grateful for the simple fact of knowing that He love me. And really, if you think about it, life's just easier when you focus on what you do know rather than what you don't know. So I rest in knowing that simple, yet life altering truth. Because I may not always know, I may make the wrong decision or be uncertain, but through it all, despite it all, I know full well that Jesus loves me.

#233 - Because Jesus loves me, this I know.

"For he loves us with unfailing love; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever." - Psalm 117:2