Learning to live loved involves learning to trust the good heart of your Father. He stated very clearly through Jeremiah, "For I know the plans that I have for you, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope". When Paul was encouraging Timothy to join him in suffering for the sake of the gospel, he said, "for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day". Paul not only knew the love of his Father, but also His power. He was able to trust His good heart in doing what was best.

Last night I was watching a documentary on the life of Keith Green. Now for all you youngsters out there, Keith Green was one of the forerunners of contemporary Christian music. He came to Christ in the early '70s as part of a marvelous move of God's Spirit commonly referred to as "the Jesus movement". He was one of the most powerful voices of the gospel in those days and his legacy still lives on today.

In the documentary, much time is given to his pre-Christ days. He ran away from home at age 15, was caught up in the free sex and drugs of the day, and by most accounts was living about as far away from Jesus as he could. As I watched the documentary, I couldn't help thinking how painful those days must have been for his parents and those who loved him. But I also kept catching myself thinking, "This is amazing how eventually he came to Christ and had a powerful impact in advancing the kingdom all over the world". It didn't bother me much to see the videos of his early days because "I knew the end of the story".

I wonder how much peace and joy we miss when we focus on the negative circumstances in our life instead of trusting the good heart of our Father to intervene in our situations. He knows the end of the story, and He is not frightened by the things He sees going on today. In fact, I think He takes delight in watching our current events because He knows what victories are coming our way. It's kind of like watching a rerun of your favorite football team when the opposing team scores a touchdown to go ahead with less than a minute in the game. Since it's a rerun, you know the outcome of the game, so even though you see the opposing fans falling all over themselves with delight, you are inwardly excited because you know what is coming next.

Now, we may not know the specifics of what is coming next in our lives, but we do know the heart of our Father, and we also know He is in control, and will cause all things to work together for good to those who love Him and who are called according to His purposes. So looking at whatever is causing distress in your heart today, you can lift your eyes above it and wrap yourself in the eternal, unquenchable, and penetrating love of your Father and press on.

Live loved!