Jesus sought the rejected man out and invited him into an intimate, life-giving relationship with the perfectly loving, always present, eternally faithful Savior.

We strengthen our relationship with God by turning to Him in times of uncertainty and fear, seeing how He comes through for us in our times of need, which helps us anticipate His care in the future.  

One might expect Him to use every awe-inspiring event to demonstrate His divinity. After all, wasn’t that a big reason He came? Yet, we often read instances where He strongly urged the newly liberated and healed to remain silent regarding these life-changing events.

The truth is, our Father is already intimately familiar with all our ways. As we sit in His presence, His love heals our shame, and His Spirit reveals our next steps.

A few years ago, I endured one of the most challenging seasons of my adult life and often felt like I handled my overwhelm poorly. The Lord comforted my wounded soul by leading me to biblical examples of extreme grace. There are numerous places in Scripture where one might expect God to condemn His often faithless and rebellious children. But that’s not how He reacts. Again and again, sin after sin, the Lord moves toward us, in mercy and love, urging us to respond by turning to Him.

Here are some of my favorite examples.

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This is more than an interesting biblical debate. If Father God could, or would, desert His Son during such extreme obedience and a radical display of love, then what does that say about His response to us in our moral failure?

The Temple, which first existed as a portable Tabernacle and later anchored first century Jewish life, provided a holy space for humanity to encounter the living God and experience a taste of heaven here on earth. It, and the rituals practiced within, foreshadowed Christ’s coming and the access to the Father that He provides.

Valentine's Day can be discouraging, even painful, for so many people and for a variety of reasons. For those of you who feel as if every idealized jewelry commercial pokes at an open wound, may your pain drive you to the One who adores you, sees your hurt, and forever remains with you.

If we rarely feel drawn to help those who are in material, physical, or emotional need, we might need to connect, more fully and consistently, with Jesus. More specifically, we might need to more fully and consistently receive His love.

“God’s promises are like the stars; the darker the night, the brighter they shine.” - David Nicholas.

When my circumstances feel most frightening or painful, I cling to the promises etched into Scripture. Many of my favorites come from passages foretelling the coming of God’s Son. He is the tangible image of our invisible God, the hope of heaven, and the One who arrived that first Christmas morning to heal the brokenhearted and free the oppressed.

Here are some of my most cherished promises tucked within the prophecies of Christ’s birth.

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When we’re driven by our desire for Him, we can trust that He’ll lovingly and persistently lead our steps. He will complete everything that concerns us, our divine-assignments included. Therefore, we don’t have to fear we’ll miss them, so long as we remain yielded to Him.

We bring our insecurities, dysfunction, past hurts, and areas of deception into every encounter, as does everyone with whom we engage. This can lead to misunderstandings and increased hurt. In Matthew 7, Jesus provides steps we can take to guard against this.

When we seek God, His wisdom, and His truth, we can trust Him to provide the answers we need to move forward in our faith, like He did with Nicodemus.

No matter how badly we’ve sinned or might sin in the future, so long as we are pursuing the light and pursuing God, we can trust He is moving toward us. He will never withdraw from us, nor will He ever turn us away.