I'm Especially Fond of You...

In our Wine, Women, and Word study we have been reading and discussing the book “The Shack.” I read it many years ago when it first came out and have seen the movie as well. I’m sure I’ve said this before, but if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, I encourage you to do so. In my humble opinion it is the best depiction of what I understand the Holy Trinity to be. God in three persons.

I watched the movie again the other day and a phrase that gets used over and over by God is, “I’m especially fond of you.” Think about that for a moment… can you imagine God saying that to you? Well, whether you can or can’t, God definitely feels that way about you! In the book, God says that to the main character Mack who is having a hard time believing in God. Especially after the tragic death of his daughter. He is asking the proverbial question, “If God loved me, God wouldn’t have let this happen.” Or, “Where was God when I needed God most?” The answer to those questions is complicated but let me try and explain from what I personally believe. I don’t believe God chooses certain things to happen to certain people while other’s are left unscathed in life.

In Matthew chapter 5 it says this, “…so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” In other words we get what we get in this life. It doesn’t have anything to do with whether we’re good or bad. Of course there is consequences to sin, but God doesn’t see us a sinful…God sees us as beloved children. And just like we are with our own children, it hurts God to see us hurt. But, just like parents, we can’t protect our kids from what happens in the world. The good news is that because we are beloved by God, God promises to be there to comfort us when we hurt, to walk through whatever this life throws at us, and to remind us of God’s unfathomable love for us.

So, hear these words of God, “I’m especially fond of you.” Believe it… God is talking to you!

See you Sunday,

Pastor Lu