“God Really Doesn’t Like Me”

On the surface it’s an absurd statement that won’t get many ‘Amen’s.  But deep inside it lies at the heart of what keeps you and me from going deeper with God.

This Sunday you and I will hear the familiar story of Doubting Thomas, who appears three times in the Gospel of John - each time expressing skepticism and misgiving about Jesus and his plans.

Thomas shares his mistrust with you and me who, deep down, fear that if we trust God, God will lead us to places we don’t want to go.

We fear that God might have plans for us that wouldn’t be anything we would ever actually want or enjoy – things that will feel more like ‘duty’ than living life. So we can feel like we’re just tools in some, far off cosmic plan – not beloved humans whom God treasures and adores.

A key, then, to going deeper with God, is getting a more realistic picture of how much God actually loves us. When we see that God loves us, we are more apt to trust him with our future – knowing that he really does have our best interest at heart.

The more convinced we are that God loves us, the less we will doubt, the more we will trust, and the better off we will be – and the world that God adores.