I'm studying 2 Samuel right now, and I came across something that I simply have to share. This truth, this reminder about who the Lord is, it's absolutely beautiful and a complete summary of the Gospel.
In 2 Samuel 14:14, it says, "[God] devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from Him."
Wow.
I don't know where you're at right now, what you're doing or going through, but I want you to know that God has done absolutely everything to bring you back to Him. He created a beautiful, master plan of grand gestures and hope and love to show you the depths of life that you can find in His presence. He went to the ends of the earth and back for you, my sweet friend, because when He sees you, He sees His pride and joy, His very favorite creation, and His love. He loves you more than anything, and He did everything to demonstrate that for you.
You see, as we all know, we're an imperfect bunch. We mess up and are severely flawed, proud and convinced we know what's right. We hurt others and ourselves, both intentionally and unintentionally, because all of humanity is stained with sin. When God created Adam and Eve, everything was perfect, heaven on earth, and then when they chose to rebel against the one command God gave them, sin entered the picture and it separated us from our Father forever. This perfect picture of heaven on earth was now tainted, because we messed up - and now this sin would run in our blood forever.
But God, being as good as He is, couldn't stand to be separated from His people, His creation, forever. He devised the "get my people back" plan, writing a story of redemption and hope and brokenness and pain. He didn't intend the pain, of course, but that was unavoidable, seeing how the world was no longer perfect.
Eventually, the big moment came. The one we've all been waiting for: Jesus.
Jesus, both God and man, came to save us all. He was going to free us from everything broken on this earth and reconnect us with God, and He did, except not in the way everyone expected. The people expected a handsome, strong king, but instead, a humble, average carpenter came.
But, of course, Jesus continued to love the people around Him. Even when us humans refused to believe that this could possibly be the Messiah, He never stopped loving and serving us, day in, and day out. He sought His Father and set the perfect example of what following after Him looks like. And then, one day, the ultimate grand gesture: the cross.
God knew that the only way to bring us back to Himself was to offer a perfect sacrifice in our place, to pay for all of the things we couldn't pay for ourselves. We were and are too broken to deserve to be in the presence of God, so He did the only thing He could, and He gave up Himself. He decided that dying the most gruesome, painful death imaginable was worth being able to spend eternity with us.
So that's what happened. He died, in our place, when we deserved what He endured times ten. We did that to Him, who wanted nothing but fellowship with us. Instead of recognizing that Jesus was our Savior and following after Him willingly, we were the ones to crucify Him. We killed Him, and instead of saving Himself like He most definitely could have, He went through it, all because He knew that redemption was coming.
And man, redemption was coming. Because that death was not the end of the story.
Plot twist: He rises from the dead, three days later. Alive, breathing, active. Jesus is alive.
And in this insane plot twist, this man we killed, He conquered death and sin and brokenness, all for us. He went to hell and back to redeem us and purify us and show us exactly how much He loves us. He endured more pain than we could ever imagine, for us. Because He couldn't bear to be without us. We deserved to be separated from God for all of eternity, but He gave us a million and one chances so that we can be in relationship with Him, and we don't have to strive anymore to be worthy of His presence.
So yeah, I'd say God devises ways so that a banished person doesn't remain banished.
If there's one thing you take away from this, it's that you are so extremely loved. We serve a God who gave up His own life, all the luxuries and beauty of Heaven to come and sacrifice Himself for us. This whole time, we should have been suffering in the same way He did, giving up our lives for Him, but He chose to make that sacrifice for us simply because He loves us. He thought of you on that cross, and endured it all so that you could be in communion with Him.
If that doesn't strike a different chord in you, then I don't know what does.
So what does this mean for you? It means you don't have to strive so hard to be loved. You don't have to change who you are or achieve more to be loved, wanted, or valued. All you have to do is open the door for Jesus, who is already waiting for you. All you have to do is say yes to God, and then you will experience a new type of love, joy, and freedom - something unlike anything the world can offer.
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