Advice You Don’t Want to Hear But Need To: #27

God is crazy. And you should be thankful that He is.

I’ve noticed something interesting about God. Were He a human and bound by our limitations, I would say that God is crazy. He does stuff that really, honestly doesn’t make logical sense. Why? Because God loves us at levels that don’t make sense.

You might have heard this before, “God loves you no matter what, yada yada yada,” but take a look at the book of Jeremiah were God RIPS Israel at least six brand new ones. God is PISSED. I don’t like reading parts of Jeremiah because it’s more depressing than Ecclesiastes (although, I think Ecclesiastes is kinda funny in an “emo” kind of way).

What happens in Jeremiah is essentially that God is fed up. Israel has been worshiping other Gods and pretty much whoring itself out to them. The sad thing is is that they were not only okay with this, they had fun with it, enjoyed it and didn’t want or even try to stop. God literally BEGS Israel to return to Him and be restored. They didn’t, which is sad (and stupid because I wouldn’t want God saying this to me).

It is in the context of this verbal thrashing that comes one of the most encouraging verses in the entire Bible:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” ~Jeremiah 29:11

Here, at this point in the story, God just promised Israel that they’d be enslaved by Babylon for 70 years. They were going to be cut down with disease, war, famine and worst of all, He wasn’t going to listen to their prayers for peace (He’d offered that and they rejected it. Like I said, He was PISSED).

God then assures the people, before they even thought about trying to attempt to think about maybe considering trying to think about repenting that He’d restore them. He promised to prosper a people who had rejected Him. He promised to restore and give hope to a people who, by our standards, deserved what they got.

This is why I say God is crazy. How many people do you know that have pissed you off once by calling you out of your name, insulting your mom, cutting you off on the freeway, cut their eyes at you, smacked too loud, snored, left the toilet seat up, etc, and you’ve written that person off forever? It took a nation generations to piss God off and during the midst of His rant on how pissed off He was and how evil the nation was He promised to PROSPER THEM!!

God’s mercy for us is undeniably deep. So deep it doesn’t make any kind of sense.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,

so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

14 for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass,

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

17 But from everlasting to everlasting

the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children’s children-

18 with those who keep his covenant

and remember to obey his precepts.

~Psalm 103:11-18

When people tell you that God hates you for whatever choices you’ve made–they lied. When you feel that you’ve sinned too much for God to forgive you, you lied to yourself. If you feel that God doesn’t love you for whatever reason, thats a lie. God’s love doesn’t change because we do. God knows we sin and yes, God hates sin, but…

“because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” ~Ephesians 2:4-5

You might be the worst kind of scum in your own eyes, but to God you are a treasure. If you think you’re too this that or the other thing to be loved, God is literally crazy enough to love you.

Oh, P.S. Think of someone you really love. Got ‘em in your mind? Now, think of someone you really, REALLY don’t like. Now, imagine sending the one you love to die in place of the one you hate.

God did that with His son. God sent His son to die for us.

That too is crazy and that is the whole point of His love. He loves us so much He sent His son to pay the price for our sin in order to reconcile your sinfulness with His holiness.

That, my friends, is some crazy, crazy love.

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