The Eternal Question
It began, like so many things, in the Garden. A whisper. A doubt. A question.
Does God really love me?
The first to wonder were the least likely candidates of all mankind: living in a perfect world with the one that had been made for them; no pain or sickness or death; ending each ideal day strolling and chatting with their Creator.
Yet when the question was asked, they didn’t know the answer. “Did God really say…?” is another way of asking if you can trust the One who spoke. Doubting what He said is doubting His character. Disbelieving His promises is disbelieving Himself. The question they couldn’t answer: Does God really love you?
They were the first, but like so many other ways, they weren’t the last.
David, that most honest prophet-king, sang words of praise and devotion and confidence in His Father’s unfailing love. (Psalm 33:5, 36:7, 48:9, 94:18 is a quick sampling.) Yet he also howled questions like: “Why do You hide Your face? Why do You forget our affliction? Why do You stand far away? Why have You forgotten me?” (Psalm 10:1, 42:9, 44:24 for starters.)
I’ve heard it said that faith and doubt cannot co-exist. But I’m not sure that’s true. We can know that we know that we know that God is love…and still cry out in fear when we can’t feel that He’s near.
Martha knew Jesus well enough to invite Him into her home and seek to honor Him with her serving. But as she became distracted with all that she thought was necessary, she asked Him, in frustration, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone?” (Luke 10:40) She questions whether He is seeing her and her struggles. Does He understand that she’s at her wit’s end? Does He care about the things that she does? She’s asking, in essence, “Do You really love me?”
The disciples walked with Jesus, day in and day out, for years. Watching Him heal and restore and feed thousands. But when they were faced with the storm of their life and thought it was the end, they woke the peacefully sleeping Jesus to ask, “Do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38) In their terror, they needed to know if He knew them and their immediate problems. Was He affected by their current, desperate trial? Did it matter to Him that they had never been more scared? Did He really love them?
I’ve been there. When the baby I was carrying was suddenly gone. When my truck slid off the road with my child in the backseat. When a diagnosis stole my next breath. When every hopeful job prospect turned into disappointment. When I realize again and again and again that my son is actually gone. Each unexpected blow that shocked my heart and rocked my world was a firestorm of pain and sorrow and fear and disappointment. And with the raging emotions, a whisper of a question, “Does God really love me?”
How about you? When did you feel forgotten? What happened to make you think God could not possibly see you? What storms felt like the end?
We all experience hurricanes where all we can do is throw out an anchor and a prayer. Fingernail-gripping, teeth-gritting hope against the reality we never thought would be ours. We’re searching for the bedrock that can steady our feet. Something sure and trustworthy. We’re still looking for the answer to that question.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is the perfect picture of God. When we want to know what God is like, we can look to Jesus and see. So how did Jesus answer the questions of those He loved? First, see what He didn’t do. He did not rebuke them for their fear or questioning. He acknowledged that they were afraid and called them to come closer to Him, to get to know Him better and trust Him more.
Because that’s what those fearsome storms can do for you. They can reveal what is always true, what you can really stand on, put all your faith in: God loves you.
At the end of his long, extraordinary, storm-tossed life, Moses blessed Israel with these words: “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deuteronomy 33:27)
When the bottom falls out and nothing else is trustworthy, He is there. The everlasting arms. The God who really loves you.
