Seeing Who God Really Is Brings Comfort and Hope By Rick Warren
“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?. . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”Romans 8:31-32, 35 (NIV)
How do you know you can trust God to comfort you? Only by seeing him as he really is. If you think God is out to condemn you, you’ll never trust him. Yet, the truth is, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32 NIV).
You may feel like God is always watching, waiting for you to mess up. Maybe that’s how you see God because of past experiences. But the question is this: will you trust your feelings or the truth of who God is?
Romans 8:34 continues to remind us that God really is for us: “Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us” (NLT).
Jesus lived, died, and rose again to save you, not to condemn you. When your feelings tell you otherwise, they are lying.
Who is God really? Psalm 86:15 says, “You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (NIV). God doesn’t minimize your hurts, and he doesn’t shame you for your habits. He sees your struggles and it’s as if he’s saying, “I can help you through this.” He is a compassionate God.
The Message Paraphrase says God is the “Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).
One way to experience God’s love in a tangible way is by surrounding yourself with other believers who know, love, and have trusted God. It’s in godly community that you can listen to one another, share honestly, and point each other toward your compassionate, loving God.
To experience true hope, you must see who God really is. Hope begins when you begin seeing him clearly.
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
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