May 21

1 Samuel 29-31

John 11:55-12:19

Psalm 118:1-18

Proverbs 15:24-26

"His faithful love endures forever."

(written 5 times in Psalm 118)

This is a common phrase throughout the Old Testament. It can be found 34 times throughout Psalm 100, 106, 107, 118, and 136. I started to wonder why "His faithful love endures forever" is repeated so many times. The best explanation I can think of is this: We easily forget. Every day and in every situation, we can always count on the fact that God loves us no matter what. But there are times when this is hard to remember. So it's repeated in the scriptures. A lot. So we can be reminded when life gets difficult.

And life can definitely get difficult. Unemployment, financial uncertainty, health problems, reoccurring pain, depression, fear, bitterness, cruelty, disconnected relationships, train derailments, devastating tornados... these are all things that are a part of our broken world. And they are all things that can cause us to doubt God's love.

Thankfully we have scriptures like Psalm 118 that remind us that God's love endures forever. I pray that this is something that we don't often forget. Even in situations that we don't understand (much like Mary and Martha from yesterday's reading, wondering why Jesus didn't prevent their brother from dying), we can always count on God's love. 

One of my favorite songs is "The Love of God" by Rich Mullins. I hope all of you enjoy it like I do. It's an awesome reminder that even when waves toss us about, God's love will always lift us up. 

http://youtu.be/IhKZn8gdN-E