When I read this quote, I knew I wanted to share it on my blog sometime soon.
It’s one of those “etch it in stone” kind of quotes. The truth is so important you don’t want to forget it . . . and yet, we do, on a daily basis.
We forget we’re already loved. (Jer. 31:3 NIV)
We forget we’re already approved. (Eph. 2:8-9 NIV)
We forget we’re already seen. (Gen. 16:13 NIV)
We forget we’re already known. (Psalm 139:1 ESV)
And instead of resting in the safety of that love and approval and seeing and knowing … we run around searching for it.
So just for today, remember: You are already loved, approved, seen, and known.
Rest in that.
In Others’ Words: When have you felt safe in God’s love? When have you felt wrapped in his approval? When have you known God saw you . . . and smiled on you? When have you felt known by him?
[Tweet “You Are Already Loved #lifequotes @dukeslee”] [Tweet “Etched In Stone: Loved, Approved, Seen & Known #lifequotes”]
Comments 19
There’s a quick answer to the questions above – and that is “never”. But like all quick answers, it forgoes essential truth in the service of clever brevity.
For me, God demands much, and sets the bar high. But He gives me the grit to get through my duties when will and body fail.
And He motivates me. Right now, it would be so easy to give up on some of my long-held dreams, and adjust my expectations to a physical reality that is a negation of all I’ve ever bee.
After all…some of the dreams are selfish, and what use are they to anyone else? The effort is best expended elsewhere, and the money is best given away.
However.
Recently I found a copy of “October Sky” in a box of books I’d never unpacked from a previous move. It’s Homer Hickam’s loving memoir of his high-school years in Coalwood, WV, spent building rockets in the heady days of the birth of the space program.
The dream of a group of high-school students, to learn how to build and launch homemade rockets, seems like “kids having fun”…except that if you fast-forward a few decades, to a book and the movie that was made from it, they saved Coalwood.
The mine on which the town depended was shut down in 1982, and like so many Appalachian coal towns, Coalwood was dying.
And then it got new life, from a book about some boys with a dream. it became a ‘place’. a tourist destination.
Finding the book now, at the nadir of hope and motivation – that’s God saying, “Get up. Keep going. You may never know the difference you make. Just trust Me to make it happen in YOUR name.”
So I’m loved after all, and I’m known well enough that God will put my name first on the title page.
Can’t beat that. Won’t even try.
And a case in point, just now.
I was feeling pretty bad this morning – a sense of anger and betrayal – and as the sun started up over the mountains, its rays formed a perfect replica of the Japanese “Rising Sun” battle ensign.
It gave me purpose, and allowed me to think past the hurt to the essential truth of life – that we ultimately are measured in how we face death. Courage and honor are a choice, and irritation over things that are ultimately trivial fall away.
I wish Beth had a like button on her blog! So many times Andrew what you write reminds me of what is important. Thanks.
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I do have a like button … but I need a like button for the comments. You’re right, Pat!
🙂
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See, Andrew. You keep looking for hope.
And you keep finding it.
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Praying for you, Andrew. And your post is a remding that hope is found in the most unusual places.
Great solid rock content. I remember taking my teen-age sons back to the town where they’d lived when small and visited our former Sunday School director, now in a retirement home. She’d been a cousin to Jim Elliott of Gates of Splendor, great heritage. I was proud of my accomplishment in bringing back wholesome Christian sons and presented them to her. The years fled away as she mistakenly called my older son by his father’s name, but eyes cleared and she said, “I have prayed for you.” My pride and sense of self-accomplishment left as I realized anything I’d accomplished hadn’t been my own effort, but we’d been greatly aided by the committed support of those who’d come before us.
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You had done much, Dee – and yes, you were helped, aided, by others.
Beautiful comment.
Beth, I like how you painted those words across a picture of stone. What a fun way to drive your point home.
I felt very loved and seen and known by God when he taught me how to swim. No other swim lessons had worked, and I’d had lots! Almost drowning was not a fun experience, but it made me soak in the lesson of how to swim. Took three years, but praise the Lord I now know how to swim.
Also felt His love when He helped me overcome each little part of that fear that consumed me after that experience. Each step of progress declares His passion for me. I’m so grateful and humbled by His attention to detail in my life.
Blessings,
Andrea
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Andrea:
Feeling loved in your toughest moments. In your moments of fear … because God was there with you and for you.
Love this post, Beth, and it reminds me of something my boss says often: that the greatest need of mankind is to be seen and affirmed. But when you flip that thought around in light of the quote you shared, the reality is that need is already met! We are seen and affirmed and loved and understood.
You know when I think I realize and feel that most? It’s when I’m writing stories and the characters suddenly start saying things that I know without a doubt are meant for me. Happened just last week…and not in fun way but more in a gut-punching truth way. And that’s when I realize, God sees me and knows me better than I even know myself…and He’s willing to reach me in the craziest ways, even through made-up characters!
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🙂
Love this, Melissa.
And I understand how God speaks to us through the words and lives of imaginary characters.
When do I feel loved and approved by God? When I make the time to be with Him. I might be walking, sitting, getting groceries, at church, in bed–doesn’t matter!
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The making of time to be with Him is key, Jill.
Yes and yes.
In Vonda Skelton’s blog this morning, she used Isaiah 1:18 “Come, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. That fills me with such joy and security. God loves me. He proved that at the cross and with the resurrection. It’s settled!
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Such truth, Sherry.
I remember once when I was facing a health issue and the peace and love I felt from God. He held me in his hand and wrapped me in a bubble…I felt so close to God during that trial. In fact, everytime I face a trial, He wraps me in a bubble and holds me close.
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True, true, true, Pat.
Beautiful reminder:)