How Do I Learn to Grasp God’s Love?

What do I learn when I hang out with God? The same thing you learn when you hang out with your friends. Things like what kind of personality and character they have. Are they:

–          sincere and believable?

–          honest?

–          trustworthy?

–          hardworking

–          an introvert or extrovert?

–          kind and compassionate?

–          Do they really like me?

This learning process takes time and experience. I listen to their words and watch their actions. Do they match? I hear their heart and decide if I like what I hear. I ask them questions about words/actions I don’t understand. What happens when I need help? Do they run or do they stand with me? And gradually I grasp who they are and whether they love me.

The learning process is the same with God. To grasp who He is and whether He loves me I need to hang out with Him. How do I do that? One way (there are other ways we’ll talk about another time) is when I read His Word, the Bible.

For example, one day while reading through the book of Numbers, chapter 34 looked like a boring list of boundaries. I said, “Ugh, God. This looks tedious, so will You reveal something about You in these verses?” And as I read I realized He is a God of detail. If He cared enough to record the details of the boundaries for each tribe of Israel, He cares about the details of my life, no matter how small they may seem.

It gets even better. At the end of the chapter God said to Moses, “These are the names of all the men who are to assign the land for you as an inheritance.” He then specifically names fourteen men.

I want to repeat that. God named Joshua, Eleazar the priest, and one man from each tribe…by name. Out of the million or so Israelites traveling in the wilderness He knew them well enough to hand pick twelve men for the job. And then He recorded their names for all of time.

What does that say about God? He knows me! He cares about the details of my life. He knows my name.

How did I learn that? How did I begin to grasp God’s heart of love for me? I hung out in His Word. And the more I continue to hang out the more I learn about His character and His personality.