This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord camps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
God’s promises to us are specific: We are never alone. He never abandons us. We are never far from help.
We fail to grasp these truths and trust in God’s constant vigilance because our human sight is so limited and we trust in ourselves too much.
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
God wants to imprint his very nature on our hearts and minds. He wants to be so real and present for us that we instinctively turn to him when conflicts and relationship hurts arise.
This is how love is made perfect in us: that we can be without fear on the day God judges us, because in this world we are like him. Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love drives out fear. It is punishment that makes a person fear, so love is not made perfect in the person who fears.
Why does criticism hurt? Why does betrayal seem unforgivable? Why do mistakes shame us and trigger defensive maneuvers?
The answer is fear of judgment. We fear being exposed for inadequacies that would make others despise us.
If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
A sure step toward resolving a quarrel is to confess our own sins before we accuse others of theirs. Our refusing to forgive often stems from a stubborn attitude of moral superiority. Yes, we claim, I’ve made mistakes, but I’m not as bad as she is!
If we are willing to look, we will see our sins most glaringly displayed in our relationship conflicts. Often the qualities we can’t stand in the other person are the very ones we refuse to see in ourselves.
Hosea put it well:
I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved. In the place where they yelled out, “You’re nobody!” they’re calling you “God’s living children.”
Isaiah maintained the same emphasis:
If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered and the sum labeled “chosen of God,” they’d be numbers still, not names; salvation comes by personal selection. God doesn’t count us; he calls us by name. Arithmetic is not his focus.
God’s love for you is personal.
