Pastor’s Corner: “The Great Insulator”
Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV) – The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
After a year of living with my sweet and generous mother in-law, we are finally looking at starting to build our new home. We have spent this last year looking at all different aspects of home building, but now I find myself immersed in a subject I never gave much thought to – insulation! I know, not that exciting. I now know more about insulation than I ever wanted to. Because of Allison’s chemical sensitivity, I have been looking at the best alternatives that will be safe for Allison and protect our home at the same time. What I have learned is that all though most (including me) have never given much thought to insulation because it is unseen, the benefits or consequences are extensive.
As I have been researching the importance and value of home insulation, the Lord reminded me this morning of the importance of the insulation of His love and goodness that surrounds us as believers. Like the importance of home insulation is often overlooked because it is unseen, the benefits and blessing of God’s love and goodness are often minimized or overlooked. But the benefits of or the consequences without are extensive. Knowing how much God loves and accepts us through belief in His Son Jesus, we are protected from the worst of so many situations. When someone is unkind, or hard times arrive, we can keep functioning with confidence and peace. We don’t need to freeze in fear or doubt, wondering how we will ever cope or get through the situation, because we trust the many promises in the Bible that God loves us dearly and that He is busily at work within our problem. His Great Love insulates us from worry, anxiousness, doubt and fear.
For me personally, when I remind myself how much God loves me and delights in me and sings over me, the weight of the circumstances I face are substantially lightened. The things the enemy normally uses to trigger me, beat me down and try to destroy me cannot touch my mind and heart because I am insulated by His Great Love! That is amazing – we all need more of this. Something else that helps me when I am burdened by failure and doubt in myself is to remember my home in heaven with Jesus. This home is secure not because of all the great decisions I make or how great my faith is, but rather because Jesus simply loves me for who I am, no questions asked – He Just Loves and treasures me. With this heavenly perspective, my heart is always lightened and I am free to serve Him unburdened by my failure or past. Praise God, He is so good!
The most wonderful thing of all is that God’s love and goodness is for each and every one of us. We can each say confidently, “Jesus loves me — this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” God says to each of us individually, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3b NIV). Paul tells us that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” and that absolutely nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37,39b NIV). Remember that Peter wrote, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 NIV). His Love is the Great Insulator!
So today, take precautions. None of us ever knows what the weather of life may bring. Choose to enfold yourself in the truth of God’s love and goodness by affirming in your mind, through scripture, just how precious you are to God. The more we wrap the truth of God’s Word around our minds and our actions, the more power it has to insulate us against those things in the world that seek to freeze us with fear, worry, panic or depression.
In His Love & Grace,
Pastor Hamilton