Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” –Hebrews 13:5
A parent’s unconditional love is often the closest illustration we have of the “I will never leave you nor forsake you” kind of love from God. Yet even a parent’s love pales compared to the depth, breadth and integrity of God’s love and passion for you. I love how one of my favorite authors, Max Lucado, describes this kind of love in a story about a father, a son, a tragedy and a great victory.
The 1989 Armenian earthquake needed only four minutes to flatten the nation and kill thirty thousand people. Moments after the deadly tremor ceased, a father raced to an elementary school to save his son. When he arrived, he saw that the building had been leveled. Looking at the mass stones and rubble, he remembered a promise he had made to his child: “No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you.” Driven by his own promise, he found the area closest to his son’s room and began to pull back the rocks. Other parents arrived and began sobbing for their children. “It’s too late,” they told the man, “You know they are dead. You can’t help.” Even a police officer encouraged him to give up.
But the father refused. For eight hours, then sixteen, then thirty-two–for thirty-six hours he dug. His hands were raw and his energy gone, but he refused to quit. Finally, after thirty-eight wrenching hours, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son’s voice. He called his boy’s name, “Arman! Arman!” And a voice answered him, “Dad, it’s me!” The boy added these priceless words, “I told the other kids not to worry. I told them if you were alive, you’d save me, and when you saved me, they’d be saved too. Because you promised me, “No matter what I’ll always be there for you.”*
GOING DEEPER:
1. Can you imagine your heavenly Father possessing this kind of passion for you, His child? He does! Read Hebrews 13:5 and let the words sink in about what it means for your life.
2. What does it mean for God to never leave you nor forsake you when problems and struggles still come to all humans?
FURTHER READING:
Deuteronomy 31:5-8; 1 John 4:10
* Max Lucado, When Christ Comes (Nashville, TN: Word Publishing, 1999), pp. 21-22.