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DOES GOD REALLY LOVE US?

If there is one question that I have struggled with throughout my Christian life, it must be this one. The introductory note to the Form One course book on Christian Religious Education (C.R.E) read in part "God created us to be happy." The New Life evangelistic training programme states in one of their Four Spiritual Laws, and I paraphrase, "God Loves us and offers a wonderful plan for our lives". Ellen G. White wrote in The Desire of Ages, "God desires us to be happy.." {pg 307-308}. All these I have known, but the reality of life sometimes differ from what we know or expect of God. Most of the time I've felt "not loved enough" by God, let down by Him, and/or even hated. 

How then do we reconcile our nasty experiences of life with the claim of God's love?

This brings us to the classical "Problem of Evil" debate. The problem of evil is a philosophical debate which explores the apparent contradiction between the character of God and the reality of evil in the world through pain and suffering. Even though this article may seem to borrow from the theodicies (arguments put forward in addressing the problem of evil) it is the intention of the author to steer clear of them and present biblical answers to our need for love, especially when we feel deprived of it. God, who Himself allowed His only begotten son to experience suffering, is not oblivious to the sufferings of his creation.

The need to be loved ranks high among our most important needs.

Most of the time when facing struggles and pain in life we often find ourselves asking, "Does God love me? Does he care? Does he understand?" These are questions we deal with on a daily basis. Deep down, you may be convinced that God loves you and he cares about you and he understands your situation but a lot of the times we just don't "feel" it. Our experience does not seem support it. We blame God. We forget all the good things he's done for us before. We demand answers and then out of sheer frustration, we recline from God and find ourselves exposed to the whims of the enemy. If suffering should drive us anywhere, it should be towards God rather than away from Him. To make the most out of problems, let them keep us closer to God, praying, trusting and hoping. The Devil will try to make our problems drive us away from God, to lose our faith and trust, and turn our back to Him who alone has the answers we're looking for.

What would your answer be if someone asked you, "Did God Love Job?" Your answer would be a resounding yes. Read God's testimony of job in Job 1: 8. "And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" (K.J.V). Obviously God loved him. But still God did allow Satan to torment Job so much, kill all his children and take away all his wealth. The reason why God allows pain and suffering in the world we may not know. Why diseases, why famines, why natural disasters? These are questions we may never answer adequately but our best attempt may point us to some truth: the presence suffering does not necessarily mean the absence of God's love.

The love of God is the basis of all his dealings with us. He created us. When we rebelled, the came looking for us and even died for us. A famous writer wrote that God loves you so much that even if you were the only sinner, he could still have gone to the cross for you.  The only question is: do we love Him? God's character is unchanging. It is ours that we need to work on just keep in check. Our overarching objective in life should be to right with God. We already have all the love God can give.

Our experiences in life cannot be the prism through which we view the character of God. Feelings are ephemeral and cannot always be relied upon to point us to the truth. The Bible affirms the Character of God as loving (1 John 4:8, John 3:16, John 10:10), kind, generous; slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, faithful, just and righteous. (Psalms 103:8, Exodus 34:6, Psalms 145:8, 2 Timothy 2:13, Psalms 33:4, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, Psalms 119:90 ). We cannot allow our opinions, however plausible they may seem, to supersede the express word of God as this would ruin our trust on God and His word. 
Our feelings may sway one way or the other but they cannot be depended on to shape our world view. Again, you may not feel that God loves you at one time or the other, but that doesn't mean it isn't so.

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