We’re able to rejoice in our salvation when our hearts are trusting Christ, knowing God has us in His steadfast love. I became a believer at age 13, but trusting in God’s steadfast love has been an ongoing choice for me. I grew up in a family that didn’t know the Lord and, therefore, didn’t know what it felt like to experience an unwavering and steadfast love, let alone how to provide it. My earthly father experienced drug addiction from a young age, chasing worldly pleasures and temporary relief from his pain. The love he had to offer me was contingent on substances, incarceration, and how much I could alleviate his shame. I had learned that love needed to be earned and sought after and that there were conditions.
I heard the gospel for the first time at age 13, at Junior High Encounter, where a friend who’d attended Cypress Creek Church was consistent in their invitation. The concept of love I’d learned was turned upside down by the Good News. Here was this God, a Heavenly Father, who called me worthy of His unconditional love, so much so that He’d given His only Son to die on the cross. This Encounter weekend was the start of a forever ongoing process of receiving and choosing to trust in God’s steadfast love and sanctification.
Where my earthly father has been unable to care for me, my Heavenly Father has provided in abundance. God does not reap sparingly, He reaps bountifully, offering more than we know to ask for. Our peace and security are found in the steadfast love of God. We can rejoice in this certain and inescapable peace because we know that the one thing we cannot live without is God’s steadfast love, which can never be lost. The choice to trust His love is my responsibility, a choice that I’ve never regretted as I reflect on how He has dealt bountifully with me, providing me with a community that models His love. Where the world falls short, God brings out His joy and greater glory.