Does God Love Too Much?

Does God Love Too Much?

Someone has said that we have judged God and found Him guilty of all that we do not understand.  He often does not act as quickly as we would like and often He ignores our wishes completely – or so it seems.  As believers, we know that He hears and cares because of the relationship that we enjoy daily but more often than not, we ask for things that we do not receive.  Mere church attendees and blatant unbelievers often conclude that He either does not exist or assume that He is deistic or has no interest in what we want.

However, from the perspective of a parent this should be far less a quandary.  God is certainly omnipotent but He is also omniscient and therefore the withholding of instant gratification or the refusal to be manipulated by the wishes of His children are demonstrations of perfect love rather than neglect or indifference.

In last Sunday’s message, Jochebed, the mother of Moses, seemed to have abandoned her crying baby as she placed him in a danger-infested river (Ex 2:6).  An argument between two women over a baby concerning who was the child’s mother was settled when King Solomon discovered which woman was willing to relinquish custody if it meant that the child could live rather than be divided between them with a sword (I Kings 3:26).  These are examples of perfect love.  Love so deep that it is painful and misunderstood to the seemly abandoned child.

God loves His children the way that we should love our children.  He loves at a level that often ignores our demands for a temporal sensation and He may refuse to intervene until we are ready to learn the accompanying lesson as well.  Our lack of gratitude, or a sense of entitlement, may delay God’s prompt alleviation of our sorrow.  In addition, it seems more important to God that we understand that His grace is just as sufficient as His strength (II Cor 12:9).  While His strength may allow even the most mature believer to grow self-sufficient and forgetful, living by His grace requires patience and often leads to a deeper sense of intimacy.

Unfortunately, this is not an easy lesson for most.  As parents, we are often tempted to respond directly to the first whimper of discontent.  Unlike our heavenly Father, we confuse needs and wants.  In fact, the emotional reciprocation of a child rescued from the brink of devastation caused by an unmet expectation is more than most parents can resist.  Few could have resisted the piercing cries of little baby Moses floating away.  This is a level of love for which every parent should strive, but too few will ever experience.

So, does God love too much?  Yes He does – too much to ignore His own omniscience concerning what I really need, too much to allow me to fester with ingratitude, too much to allow my sense of entitlement to prevent me from knowing the awesome experience of His sufficient grace.  His love is perfect and rejoices in truth (I Cor 13).  His love is not poisoned by our myopic appreciation for what is actually best for us.

As CS Lewis once mused, It is not that we ask for too much but rather that we ask for too little.  We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.  We are far too easily pleased.  (From his 1949 address, The Weight of Glory.)

Pastor Mike