There is a story that is told of Karl Barth the Swiss Reformed Theologian whom critics say is amongst the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century. One day at the end of a lecture he was asked what was the greatest thought that had ever gone through his mind. The audience waited with baited breath to hear what one of the greatest minds of the 20th century would give as his answer! After a brief silence and with everyone straining to hear the wisdom that would come from his mouth, he said these words, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!” If we really believe the fact that God loves us and that he sent Jesus into the world to show us clearly how much he loves us, this will change our lives forever!
However, hearing that God loves you and experiencing it are two very different things. Although we can hear the words, sometimes we can miss the experience of the reality of those words. Recently, a lady came to my Spiritual Health Weekend worn out from illness and the pressures of life and in need of a touch from the Lord. Before she came she had said to the Lord, “If you really love me, then please pick me out and give me a gift from Nancy.” At the Spiritual Health Weekends we often through different methods randomly pick people out of the crowd, pray for them and give them a gift. This particular lady had been badly abused in her youth but also during 2011 had many physical things go wrong. She had experienced three very serious asthma attacks, one which ended in the resuscitation room as well as bronchitis, on top of other existing chronic illnesses including diabetes, osteoporosis, bursitis in her hip, both kidneys damaged, clinical depression, an eating disorder and various other medical problems. As well as this, her sister lost twins and her mum got diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease! She came to the weekend desperate for a touch from the Lord and that is what she got, in more ways than one.
Right from the beginning of the first meeting, God began to work in this woman’s life. In the sessions she felt God reach deep into her soul. Throughout the weekend, the Lord continued to work in this lady’s life by showing her how much he loved her.
At one point as two of my team were praying with her, Zoe felt from the Lord that she should give her a complimentary copy of my book, ‘Oasis of Hope’. She smiled and thought, “Lord, I asked you for a gift from Nancy and here it is!”
On the last day of the conference, she expressed to us that she felt God had done open-heart surgery on her as he revealed the depth and vastness of his love to her. However, God had not yet finished telling her how much he loved her. During one of the sessions, her name was randomly picked out of a basket filled with names. We prayed for her and gave her a special gift never realising that this is what she had asked God to do before she came to the weekend. She thought God had already blessed her with one of my books, but here was God again highlighting her. She said that it was like God was shouting from the rooftops, making sure she had heard that he REALLY, REALLY loved her!
Your name might never have been picked out of a basket, but today God wants you to know that he really, really loves you. He hasn’t forgotten you! He never will leave you nor will he ever forsake you! He won’t fail you ever! Don’t just listen to me telling you that God delights in you, but instead ask him to show you how much he loves you and I have no doubt that through various ways he will certainly do so.
