Are you Like me and Have Taken this Incredible Gift for Granted?

Have you ever taken anything for granted?

Maybe it was modern comforts like electricity, running water, indoor plumbing, or trash disposal. Perhaps it was your home, your vehicle, or your health. What about the love of family or a friend? I know I have been guilty of not fully appreciating all of these things and more at various times. Trials throughout life have taught me the importance of being grateful for all of these things and so much more. If there is one piece of life I am in awe of the most, it is God’s love for me. So why do I so often forget to be thankful for it?

There is a song by the Belonging Co. called “Where Would I Be” that says:

Your hand in every part
In my whole life from the start
Jesus, You have always been with me
No matter where I was
You found a way to show up
Jesus, You have always been with me
Oh, there's never a season, never a place
Where I am alone, where You don't show Your face
Right here I remember, how could I forget
Your faithfulness has never left me
Where would I be without You
Where would I be without Your love
I'm amazed by all You've done
Oh, Jesus
Where would I be without You
Where would I be without Your love
I can't say thank You enough

When I listen to these words, the question “where would I be without You” penetrates my heart and mind. 

Looking back to the days of my first year of college, I can see now how I had repeatedly put myself in foolish situations. I was hurting and broken, in search of love and attention. My self-esteem was minimal at best. I threw myself at a guy from work in hopes to be loved and cherished. Instead, I was used and pushed aside when I became inconvenient. Yet I kept going back, hoping my devotion would earn his. I put myself in compromising positions and felt rejected when he didn’t take advantage of them. As I have learned more about myself, psychology, and the effects of chronic trauma, I can see how I could have been a prime candidate to end up in an abusive relationship. (The yearning for love in my soul is what abusers often manipulate to make control feel like love.) I stayed out with people who were not really my friends when I should have been home. My desire to be included and accepted put me in places and situations that were not legal or safe. 

I know, without a doubt, it was God’s hand that saved me from myself and anyone else who might have harmed me.

 I have asked Him many times, why me? Why was I protected when so many others were not? Why was I never sexually assaulted when I foolishly put myself in the position to be? How come my destructive behaviors did not have the same outcome as it did for other women?

To this day, God has not given me answers to these questions. What I do know is God’s love was constant through it all. When I was not aware of it, didn’t feel it, or maybe didn’t even fully believe in it, His unconditional accepting love was still there.

Now, that is something to be thankful for!

How could I ever take a love like that for granted? Yet, despite all I have been through, I can still forget what a gift God’s love really is.

As we go into this Easter weekend, celebrating God’s greatest demonstration of His love for us, I want to re-commit to never taking God’s love for granted.

I know I won’t be perfect, and His grace covers all my failures, but God’s love is inexplicably deep, wide, and all together wonderful. It covers all of my sins and makes up for all of my mistakes. I don’t ever want to take that for granted again.

What comes to mind when you think about the question, “Where would I be without God?” Is maintaining a heart of gratitude for God’s love something that comes easily to you, or do you find that like me, there are times you take it for granted?