“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 8:38–39).
No matter how long we live, we’ll never feel we get sufficient confirmation that God loves us and has our backs. Even the greatest saints and the folks we think have it all together spiritually continually quest for greater love and assurance from God. We know from scripture that until the end of their lives, God’s people craved the assurance, trust, safety, help, and confidence no matter how much God had assured them in the past. This isn’t so different between God and us and between someone we love and us. When my grandchild, Danny, was a toddler and we’d be out somewhere, they’d waddle ahead of me. Yet, with every few steps, they’d look back to make sure I was still there. Knowing Grandma Karen was just behind, they’d go on until the next need for assurance.
When I think about reaching out to God, my first thought is love. For, like Paul, I’m certain that nothing can separate me from the love of God. In that, I’m certain I can depend on God to care for me no matter what. Just writing this warms my soul.
Similarly, Fr. Richard Rohr believes, “We are already in union with God! There is an absolute, eternal union between God and the soul of everything. At the deepest level, we are ‘hidden with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:3) and ‘the whole creation … is being brought into the same glorious freedom as the children of God’” (Romans 8:21).
As we step into February, the month of love, let’s not forget that we are able to love only because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). Between now and February 14, I urge you add reading and contemplating the Psalms that prominently speak about God's love into your daily times with God. I suggest you start with these and then expand out as you feel called: Psalm 103:11-14 (comparing God's love to the vastness of the heavens), Psalm 36:5-7 (describing God's love as unfailing and a refuge), Psalm 86:15 (highlighting God's great love and mercy), Psalm 136:26 (emphasizing God's everlasting love), Psalm 23 (depicting God as a shepherd who cares for his sheep), and Psalm 139:7-10 (showing how God intimately knows and loves us). After each reading, thank God for the wonderful gift of love.
Blessings and love,
Karen