Tuesday, April 8, 2014

His Love Endures Forever...

Psalm 136 says, "Give thanks to The Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.  Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever..."

For the next 26 verses this psalm talks about how great God is with the response, "His love endures forever."  It talks about God's majesty, his victory, his mercy... with the response, "His love endures forever."

Sometimes I think we get caught in the mindset that "his love endures forever" means that we get exactly what we want.  We get the promotion at work, we get the raise in salary, we get married, we have children, we get a good report from the doctor... But "his love endures forever" isn't conditioned to us getting what we want. Favor and blessing are not equalled to his love.  

I have been through the hardest five months of my entire life.  Going into the hospital thinking I had a kidney stone and coming home with a diagnosis of aggressive bladder cancer really brought my thinking to a screeching halt.  I had to reconsider some of the things I previously believed.  I had to rethink the things I believed about grace and mercy.  I had to reexamine what I thought about favor and blessing.  

My bout with cancer has caused me to narrow it all down and simplify the things I know in my own heart.  God is love, his love endures forever.  For me, his favor isn't dependent on monetary blessings.  His grace isn't dependent on what I see or think or feel.  His mercy isn't dependent on whether or not my prayers are answered in the manner in which I hope.  

It is simple:  God is love.  Nothing can separate us from it.  Nothing can change his mind about it.  Nothing can absolve it.  His love endures forever.

I often asked myself the question, "What if God chooses to take me?  What if He doesn't heal me?  What if the cancer spreads?"  These are the questions that haunted my mind.  Then I realized that even if he chose to take me, his love would still endure.  Even if the cancer spread, his love would still endure.  Even if my body failed, his love would still endure.

Then there were the questions about my family.  If John lost his wife, God's love would still endure.  If my kids lost their mom, God's love would still endure.  If memories started to fade, God's love would still endure.  If eventually a new family was formed and new memories created, God's love would still endure.

James 4:14 says, "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." This is true for all of us.  It was painfully evident to me because of my cancer, but none of us knows when our last breath will be.  What we do know is that even still his love endures forever.

I have found a great hope in this.  There are many uncertainties in life.  Some battles may be won while others may be lost.  But of one thing we can be sure,  "His love endures forever."

Only By His Grace,

Billie

1 comment:

  1. what a blessing you are to so many!
    May God richly bless you and your family

    ReplyDelete