“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” – Psalm 91:14-16

I used to have a friend who thought God was mad at her all the time. Many times when life was disappointing her, we would have discussions to that effect, and I would have to tell her that that maybe that’s the picture of God that a lot of churches are promoting, but that our God is much more fair and definitely much more loving than that.

How do I know that? Because I know him, and I’ve seen him work.

Certainly his anger can burn white hot, and certainly we will face consequences of bad choices that we make here on earth, but that’s the curse of humanity, and that is why Jesus died to ensure that we don’t face the consequences of those sins eternally.

But what I love about this verse is that all of Psalm 91 is telling us about how he’s protected us and how we won’t be ultimately affected by even the worst circumstances. At the end it tells us it is “because he loves me.“

A real relationship with God is just that: a relationship. The word “religion” carries so many harsh undertones these days, but knowing God in the way that matters the most only requires loving him. In that love, we learn to seek not to hurt his heart, and ultimately that’s where the obedience comes in.

We should definitely strive to obey and to please him, no doubt, but when you think about the people you’ve loved the most, that love has kept you from wanting to hurt them. Obedience is not something we can do in our human strength. It needs to come from a deep and powerful love for the Creator of the Universe.

Wow, have you ever thought of how amazing it is that you have the chance to have that relationship? Do you think about that every day? When you put it in those terms, how on earth is that not how we wake up every day, thinking how blessed we are to have a relationship that is the greatest love any living thing will ever know?

Looking at that, I wonder why anything else even matters. ❤️