“God knows everything — even the worst, most humiliating, most devastating things about us. We are fully known by him and deeply loved in Christ. . . . He cannot love you more and will not love you less, and there is nothing you will ever be able to do to change that.”- Scott Sauls
“By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.”- 1 John 3:19-21 (ESV)
In Prologue 11 (“Homesick”) of Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen, Scott Sauls observes that hope follows closely behind when we bring our sorrows out of hiding. Hence, we take the first step in the direction of healing when we admit and own the diagnosis.
However, Pastor Sauls notes, the very worst things about our present world stir our longing for our heavenly home. And it’s also possible for the very best things of this present world to whet our appetite for heaven. Therefore, we feel what Scripture calls the ‘groan of creation’ because there’s something right with us. Not wrong with us. Thus, Pastor Sauls summarizes:
“Because we are not Home yet, we still ache. We’re not freaks. Just damaged, hurting, and sick for Home. Homesick. It’s perfectly normal — or, better said, it’s imperfectly and painfully normal — to feel uncomfortable in your own skin. It is normal to want to do what turtles do when they crawl into a shell. You are not alone in that hard, sometimes hidden battle. . . . Perhaps this is why John, the beloved disciple . . . seems eager to convince us that we, too, are beloved in Christ.”
Consequently, God never rejects us. He comforts us with dignity, restoring grace. And when guilt and shame torch our hearts with restless fire, He quiets them with His forever love.
Today’s question: How do you feel fully known and deeply loved in Christ? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Amplified in the presence of lament – joy”
