His love never....

Psalm 136 reminds over and over again that God's love never quits - not less than twenty-six times in as many verses. Now, a message repeated that frequently is probably something we need to learn. His love never quits. His - there is no other basis for our trust, nor our focus - it is him and him alone. Love - evident in nothing more revealing than his grace. Never - not just when the urge strikes him, but each and every time we need to see, feel, or experience it in some manner. Quits - as impossible as it is for God to lie, it is equally impossible for him to withhold his love from us.

God remembered us when we were down. His love never quits. Rescued us from the trampling boot. His love never quits. Takes care of everyone in time of need. His love never quits. Thank God, who did it all. His love never quits. (Psalm 136:23-26 MSG)

It is good to be reminded of things we have a tendency to forget, isn't it? Our mind wanders and finds distraction in the most unlikely places, all the while setting us up to forget who it is we have placed our trust in and to begin to fear whatever it is we face at the moment. A couple of things we are to remember:

1. God cannot forget us. His focus is not like ours - it is unlimited and without error. Forgetting can be acccidentally or intentional on our part, so we think God must have that same inability to always remember what he promises, or that he will choose to forget a promise. It doesn't say God has "selective remembering" when it comes to us. It says he "cannot" forget us - not just chooses to not forget us, but finds it impossible to go against his character by not having us in his focus 24/7.

2. God isn't just there for us in the "up" times. We go through ups and downs in our emotions and in every other sense - physically, relationship roller-coasters, and in our own thoughts about self or others. We have a tough time consistently recalling his love as always with us and there to be revealed through us in those up and down times. Yet, his love is what is there for us when we are down, as much as when we are on top of the world.

3. Destructive forces cannot keep his love from reaching out to us. We are invaded by all manner of distracting and destructive thought. His love reaches beyond those forces and isn't going to cower when they come, but reach out to us to lift us away from them. I remember being lifted over the yard fence which separated the neighbor's yard from ours as a small child. The storms of summer would come, bringing loud thunder which frightened me terribly. The flashes of lightening could have taken me down in an instant. Yet, as the storms raged, I came to count on one thing - the reaching arms of my mother. God's arms reach even farther than my mom's - so why doubt, why fear, why panic?

4. No one escapes his view. His vantage point sees ALL need - not just the loudest or most urgent, but all need. His love can be counted on to counteract our need - regardless of how big or small - they are his to manage and to fulfill.

His love - based in grace - never fails. He never falls short. He never attempts and then falls short. His grace is ever-reaching, his love never failing. Chew upon that one today as you begin to think your issues are too small, or your need is too great. His love NEVER fails. Just rememberin!