See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 1 John 3:1
As the father of two, I have a greater understanding of God’s love for us than prior to parenthood. My wife and I have very different personalities and our daughters have followed suit. In most ways our older daughter’s personality is more like mine while our younger daughter’s is more like her mother’s. My relationship with my daughters is equally different. Adrienne and I think alike, understand each other more readily and both enjoy music and dancing. Christine and I have to work harder to understand each other, but make the effort. I’m not sure either of us enjoys painting our homes, but we enjoy doing it together and make a great team. We also share a love of gardening…allowing us to go to a plant store together is financially risky. I love and am truly grateful for both of our daughters and could not imagine my life without either of them. The same is true of our Heavenly Father’s relationship with each of us. We each have different personalities, talents and character flaws. We are at different places in our lives as well as at different places in our faith and spiritual maturity. Further, our Father has different plans for us. As a result, we have different needs; therefore, His provisions for us and the life experiences that He has ordained for us will be as varied as the structure of snowflakes…no two are alike. As a result, his children often struggle to understand His love for them.
A tranquil heart is life to the body, but passion is rottenness to the bones. Proverbs 14:30
The “passion” in this passage refers to envy. Comparing our lives to the lives of others is never a good measure of God’s love for us. I have had people tell me that they don’t understand how I endure my illness. I recognize that I endure purely by God’s grace and the support system that my Father has provided. However, I catch myself considering the trials of others and can’t imagine how they endure them. In that regard, I must recognize that my Father has not called me to their struggles, but rather the ones ordained for me. Further, the grace to endure is provided as needed rather than in advance. Conversely, the blessings that others enjoy that are not provided to us as well do not mean that God loves them more. They are merely called to a different purpose. If my trials are less severe or my blessings are greater than the next person, I am no more loved nor are they loved less; God’s plan for our lives is just different. God’s love cannot be evaluated by our observation or feelings, but rather by how He sustains us in our trials, encourages us through our blessings and matures us in our faith so that we become more Christlike.
In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:18
Another problem with comparison is that, as a rule, we often don’t know or have forgotten the cost, risk, sacrifice or history of others. We only see where they are at the moment. I’m sure that we’d all love to have the righteousness and faith of Job, the influence of Joseph, the heart of David, the visions of Daniel, the position of Esther, the honor of Mary the mother of our Lord, or the face-to-face interaction with Christ that the apostles had. Each of these had wealth, power, wisdom, and or honor as well as faith. However, each endured much. Are we willing to endure the cost that they did for the life God called them to? Are we able to trust our Father implicitly to provide and sustain us in those types of circumstances? Our Father has lovingly ordained a plan and a purpose for each of us; we should be thankful for that. Again, we cannot understand God’s love for us by looking at the lives of others. We can however, understand His love for us by drawing near to Him, developing a deeper relationship with Him, focusing on the plan He has for our life and seeking to obediently serve Him to the best of our ability as we rely on His strength and wisdom.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9
We can never truly know the mind of another human let alone know the mind of our Father. His love for us cannot be evaluated by our circumstances or by comparing them to the lives of others. We just don’t have the full story as our lives have not been completed and our wisdom is inadequate. However, we can know the depth of His love for us by considering that He has called us His children, sacrificed His only begotten Son to provide our redemption, given us the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us, and ordained the circumstances of our lives to mature our faith so that we can enjoy eternity with Him. That is the depth of our Father’s love for us. It is certain, deep, complete, perfect and eternal. The evidence is readily available when we choose to focus on our Father’s truth and character rather than our feelings.