Tenacity

Jul 30, 2021

...God has said, never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.

- St. Paul, Hebrews 13:5

"I don't necessarily sit around inviting life to knock me down, but when it does, I don't wait for an invitation to stand back up either."

- Craig D. Lounsbrough

The other day at work a co-worker came up to me and asked if I could talk to him about something during our lunch break. The conversation went like this:

"So," he said, "Is there anything I could do to make God unlove me?"

I said, "You mean like when someone 'unfriends' somebody on Facebook?"

"Exactly… like could I do something that would drive God away from me forever?" he asked.

"Is there a specific reason he’s asking me this?" I wondered.

"Well yeah… I mean you're a pastor, so I thought you'd know the answer."

"No, no," I replied, "What I mean is, do you think you did something that caused God to turn His back on you… to throw up His hands and walk away saying, 'That's it! You blew it! I'm Done!'"

"Yeah," he said.

"Can you tell me what it is?" I asked.

"I think so… yeah..." Then he paused, looked down and said,"I told God that I hated Him and never wanted anything to do with Him ever again."

"Why did you tell Him that?"

"Because," he said, "when my 24 month old daughter got diagnosed with cancer, I thought if there's a God out there that would allow THAT to happen to an innocent little girl… well… that's a God I want nothing to do with!"

"How long ago was that?" I asked.

"Five years ago."

"How's your daughter today?"

"She's great… normal, high energy, more than a handful… but yeah, she's good. She went through 11 months of cancer treatment at Rady's… that was hell," He said, "But her leukemia is all gone they say."

"I'm glad!" I said. "So… for five years, you've been wondering if God hates you?"

"Pretty much...yeah," he said.

In Matthew 28, Jesus stands for the last time before the disciples… and just before He ascends back up to heaven… in verse 17 it says, "When they saw Him, they worshipped Him -- but some of them doubted!"

What?! What do you mean some of them doubted? These guys had been with Jesus almost 24/7 for three years. They witnessed His miracles, they heard Him teach God's truth with authority, they saw Him confront the powerful religious experts of the day… and then they were there when Jesus was crucified and when Jesus appeared before them as Risen from the dead… and they still had doubts?! I mean, I'm waiting for Jesus to look at them and say, "C'mon you blockheads… if you don't get it by now after all you've seen me say and do… that's It! I'm Done with You! You're Off The Team! Get Off the Bus!"

But no… Jesus let's them stay on the team, even with their doubts… and He loves them anyway and stays in relationship with them, declaring in verse 20, "And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Man, I love Jesus! Because sometimes I wake up in the morning and I have these incredible doubts wondering, how can God love me when I continue to get it wrong again and again? And it's just nice to know that I'm not only in great company, but that I am loved by God even with my doubts.

So, I told my friend that God is a lot like my grandson, Fisher, when he sees me. He will see me from a distance and yell, "PaPoo!!" and sprint towards me with his arms wide open… then jump up and grab hold of my shirt… and he won't let go! I'll twirl around… and he won't let go. I'll swing him high and I'll swing him low… and he won't let go. I'll say to him, "Fisher… let go! I want you to let go! That's enough!" And he'll say, "OK." But he doesn't let go! He keeps hanging on! You know why? Cause he's crazy about me! He loves me!" And that's exactly how the God of Heaven and Earth feels about you! He said, "I will never ever leave you or forsake you!" You cannot throw Him off… you cannot drive Him away… there's nothing you can say or do to stop Him from loving you!

Anne Lamott is a Christian writer who marches to the beat of God's heart. She said the night she met Jesus, she was in such a bad place. She said, "I wasn't going to let Jesus into my life because He came like a stray cat to my door one night. I didn't find Him attractive at all… But I was so lonely and so afraid and so desperate that I let Him in and I fed Him. And," she said, "you know how it is with a stray cat… If you feed a stray cat, you've got a cat for life. Sooo," she said, "I've got a Savior named Jesus for life!"

I looked into my friend's eyes and said, "Look, you're a good dad, and you know there's nothing your daughter could ever do or say to make you stop loving her. Even if she said, 'Dad, I hate you!' It would break your heart, but you would still love her." That love comes from God. He is Love. And that's how He feels about you! My advice… start talking to Him. He's been waiting to hear from you for a long time.

Listen… I don't know where you're at today with your doubts and your questions and your wonderment about how God feels about you after what you said or did to Him. But just so you know… you didn't drive Him away. He's tenacious. He's still hanging onto you. He's still waiting outside your door like some stray cat. So why not invite Him in… and talk.