Jesus Loves Me — This I Know
Life happens. Often, it happens because of negative circumstances and people. Your car gets rear-ended by another car moving way too fast. You bumble the opportunity to encourage someone. You fail at having a good attitude at that appointment. You have trouble forgiving someone for THAT thing they forgot to do. Your feelings get hurt too easily. You are locked out of your home at 5 am in the morning and get way too peeved. You let worry consume you. I’m saying “you” in all these incidences, but I should have said “My, me or I”. Best. News. Ever. And…..Jesus loves me – this I KNOW!
This photo is of me and a sweet, Chinese friend, Helen, here in my community. She knows very little English, but she doesn’t let that deter her. She shows up at community functions and games. She is patient enough to just watch and listen though she doesn’t understand. But then she’ll feel confident enough to join in. She is relentless. She and I meet on Sunday nights to play pool in our billiards area. We often refer to her translation app to communicate. After pool, we go to the theater room. I play Christian hymns and music on the piano and she and I sing-a-long. Me, in English and her, in Mandarin Chinese. And, most importantly – with gusto – we sing “Jesus loves me – this I know!”
I am impressed with Helen’s confidence and fearlessness. She doesn’t understand us and, most of the time, we don’t understand her, but she has confidence based on Who she loves and Who loves her. I loved it when she showed up at one of our women’s Bible studies carrying her Bible with Chinese and English side-by-side. She learned these words in English and announced: “I am a Christian!” and after that, we showed her the scripture references and she read along. She knows that Jesus loves her. Of course, she has confidence.
Like Helen, I know that God is always there to tap me on the shoulder and give me His gentle reminder, deep within my soul, despite my “issues” that “Jesus Loves Me”. That little song from childhood is so very simple, yet relevant to me today. That one statement grounds me in the truth of who God says I am, and it’s not based on how well I perform or what I look like or what concerns me. The Awesome Creator of heaven and earth, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Great “I Am”….. loves ME!
There is no person, no diploma or award, or pats on the back that can fix us from the outside when we need to be rewired with fully knowing and embracing….”Jesus loves me this I know”. Only God can do that.
When life happens, we can choose to let it overwhelm us and perplex us, or we can recall that sweet song once again – “Jesus loves me, this I know”. We are so dearly loved by God. His love causes us to release our woes and cares to Him, and in turn display compassion, kindness, and patience even when we don’t feel like it, to someone else. When we do that, then Jesus in us will cause others to start to sing “Jesus loves me this I know.”
“The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying, ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn you.’” (Jeremiah 31:3)