If You Loved Me Enough

A couple of years ago my granddaughter, Andrea, was traumatized. No, she wasn’t kidnapped. She didn’t witness a brutal event. She didn’t even get hurt—physically. But she cried, with all the angst of a drama queen, when her parents left for a concert without taking her. “I want to go! I’ll be really good! It’s not fair!”

I was in the kitchen fixing dinner for those of us who were left behind when Andrea came in and asked to use the sidewalk chalk. Her eyes were swollen, her skin blotchy.

When I went outside to call her for dinner, she asked me to come see what she’d done with the chalk. In the middle of the driveway, where they were bound to see it when they returned, Andrea had left a message for her parents. Under a large pink heart she had written: “Dear Mom and Dad, if you loved me enough you would come back and get me. Love, Andrea.”

Are there times when you say that to your Heavenly Father? “Lord, if You loved me enough You would get me a job. Sell my house. End the chaos in my life.” Is that how love is shown—by making everything perfect? That’s what we tend to think, isn’t it? If things are going well and there’s no major problem confronting us, the Lord must really love us.

But when real life happens and those unexpected events blow in like a winter storm on the Pacific coast, we run for cover. “Help,” we yell to our friends. “My teenagers have become mutants and I have no idea what to do with them.” Or “What can I do about my crumbling marriage?” we ask as we turn on the TV to take advantage of Dr. Phil’s insights. “Dear Lord, if you loved me enough You would come back and get me out of here. Love, _____(fill in the blank with your name.)

I John 3:1 says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” We don’t have to wonder if God loves us enough—He’s already proved it. “For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son …” (John 3:16a) “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

The next time you’re tempted to question God’s love for you, take a few moments to write down all the things He’s done for you. You’ll have writer’s cramp long before you exhaust His riches and care. He loves you more than enough!