God Really is Love!

As I move fully into this new semester and new year (well, I still write 2016 sometimes, but that's beside the point), I've had some time to reflect on the semester and year I just finished. There were lots of ups and downs, sometimes both at the same time. And that's normal.

Today, however, I want to tell you all about one of those downs. If you know me well, you probably already know this, but last semester was rough. Really rough. One of those semesters when you truly wonder if you're going to survive.

But the beautiful thing is, on this side of it, I have learned and grown so much from that time. At a time when I didn't have time for myself, let alone give God the time He deserves, I could see Him reaching out to me. With a thousand things vying for room on my plate, God didn't fight me for my time. He was just there.

And I think we over-complicate that. I caught myself the other day basically making myself a mental checklist of everything I need to balance, and one of the pieces stressing me out was having a decent devotional time.

I did a double-take.

Does God want to be another item on my checklist that stresses me out or makes me feel guilty if I don't get around to it?

I mean, I always kind of knew that He doesn't, but it didn't hit home for me until recently. We talk about how "God is love" and "Jesus loves you" and "We are God's children" and then we act like reality is anything but that.

Now, don't take from this that you don't need to spend time with God, please. That's not what I'm trying to say.

What I want us to see is that, if God is love (and He is, FYI), then His love is not going to be limited by the feeble efforts we can put into the relationship. We'll never measure up to His expectations of us, short of the righteousness of Christ. So if you feel like you're not doing enough or that you're failing in your relationship with God, don't despair. He loves you despite it.

But the biggest thing that really struck me is just how much God loves me. He could have chosen to sit back and wait for when I was able to come back and really devote time to Him, and even that would have been more than I'll ever deserve. But He didn't stop there.

God showered me with love.

Sure, it was a hard four months. Yes, I had overwhelming stress. And I didn't always think I was going to make it with my sanity intact.

But, whenever I thought I'd hit breaking point, the right song would come on the radio. Or someone would text me with encouragement. Or I'd just have a random good moment. It wasn't anything bigger than that, really. But they were all little things that reminded me that God was still there. That He was still taking care of me when I couldn't even do that.

I am living proof that our God is not a God of checklists or conditions. He is not a God of limits or pettiness. He is not a God who gives up.

He is a God of unconditional love. Of limitless grace. A God who pursues us even when we don't know where we're running.

Even if it doesn't feel like He is there, God is still with you. Even if your problems don't seem to be going away, God still loves you. Stop...and let God show you just how much.

Because if God can chase me down and love me after my crazy semester, He can catch you too.