For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.   John 3:16 KJV

I learned that verse as a child in Sunday School. I have always been able to remember and repeat it. But for many years I did not believe it. I lived my life as though it was just too good to be true. I lacked faith. I didn’t put my complete trust in God.

This Scripture passage tells us that God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die a horrible, humiliating death on a cross for me and for you. It tells us that we only have to believe in Him. It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Just believe in Him and you can spend eternity in heaven with Him. But I think that often times we have a hard time believing in Him. Or at least I know I did. For many years I couldn’t truly believe how or why God would send His only Son to die for a miserable sinner like myself. I had been raised to believe in Him. I had been raised to trust Him. But when a trial would come along, I would fall like a house of cards. I would cry out to God and question why. Who did I think I was? God’s will and God’s plan is always best even if we can’t see it at the time.

When my sin was getting the best of me, I was begging God to change those around me. I was convinced that I was okay it was just everyone else that needed to change. As I continued to go to church and continued to pray and study my Bible, God helped me to realize that the only person who needed to change was me. I needed to change. I needed to believe in Him. I needed to trust in Him. I needed to comprehend His awesome power. I had to let go of the sin in my life and trust Him.

I had been trying to let go of some of the sin in my life all on my own. I thought I could handle it. But praise God, I finally began to comprehend Romans 5:8. It tells us that Christ died for us while we were sinners. 1 John 1:9 tells us that if we will simply confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I just brought the whole mess to Him. I laid it at his feet like a broken toy needing repair. He cleaned up my mess and made it my message. He took my tests and made them my testimony. He helped me to change me. I couldn’t believe He’d do all that for me. I knew I didn’t deserve it. Obviously, He knew that too, but He loved me enough to do it anyway.

I think many times we worry and experience stress and anxiety because we can’t comprehend the great love that God has for us. We just can’t wrap our pretty little heads around the fact that He loves us more than we can ever imagine. Right now, I’d like for you to take a minute and re-read our Scripture passage. Can you imagine giving your child up for your enemy? When we sin, we are God’s enemy, yet He still gave His Son to save us from our sin. It’s a lot to comprehend, isn’t it?

I don’t know what you believe or where you are in your relationship with God, I can only speak for myself. I spent years not believing that He loved me that much. I let the devil lie to me over and over as I would pray telling me that I didn’t deserve God’s love and God would never do what I was asking. The devil loves to put doubt in our heads, but how can we doubt someone that sent His one and only Son to die for us? Think about that.

This is why faith is so important. Our Scripture passage says that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Do you believe in Him? It’s hard to comprehend His awesome power, I know. He simply wants us to believe in Him and trust in Him. If we do, we want to be obedient to Him. We no longer want to sin.

Trust in Him today. He wants to protect you and comfort you. He loves you that much. And yes, He’d do that for you.

Have a great day!