january.13

1 nephi 11:12-30

how does knowing that God loves you provide direction in your life?

--> i have always loved the verse 17 which says, "i know that he loveth his children, nevertheless i do not know the meaning of all things."

of all the things that i know and believe, the knowledge i have that God loves me is the thing i have the strongest conviction of.  i've thought about this a lot - how did i gain such a strong testimony that Heavenly Father actually knew me and loved me?  it's something that is reinforced every. single. day.  i can see evidences of God's love every single day.  the times in my life where i've taken the time to record these evidences, or even just stop for a moment to think about them, have been some very happy times.  when i take time to recognize them, i end up recognizing more and feeling more love and gratitude than before.  the course of the Lord is surely one eternal round.  always.

knowing that God loves me gives me incredible purpose and direction.  specifically, i understand that whatever happens to me, happens for a very specific reason.  because God is in control in my life, i can trust that everything will be ok, eventually.  i know that His love will guide me through each day no matter what.  i also appreciate the understanding that because God loves me, He will allow everything to happen to me that needs to to allow me to learn what i need to learn and return to live with Him again.  God is perfect.  God is good. 

i've always loved romans 8:38-39 - "for i am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  that is so true. nothing, nothing nothing will ever separate us from the love of God.