We can’t judge God’s love based on how we feel. There will be times during the course of life when it appears God doesn’t care. We might even feel that He has become our enemy. We hurt, we cry, we plead, and nothing changes. Yet God loves us in our pain just as much as in our pleasure. His love never changes! James Smith reminded his church of this in 1840 when he wrote:
“The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works; but He is especially benevolent, kind, and attentive to the praying, waiting soul. He has prepared of His goodness for the poor, and His goodness is ever great towards us. He bids us ask, promises to bestow, makes us wait, and then blesses us indeed. We have proved Him to be good; but if we had more faith in Him, and were more earnest with Him, we should see and enjoy His goodness in a much greater degree. He delivered David from the horrible pit; Jeremiah from the dungeon; Daniel from the lions; Peter from the waves; and Paul from the forty Jews. ‘The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him.’ He will renew our strength, illumine our path, take vengeance on our foes, and introduce us into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Let us wait for Him in faith, look for Him in hope, and plead with Him to work in us all the good pleasure of His will, and the work of faith with power. Wait for the Lord and prove Him good.”
