NEVER!
I was in my weekly Immanuel session recently. Connecting with Jesus. “What do You want me to know, Jesus?” He kept saying “NEVER”. It was very clear and assertive. He kept repeating it as He tried to get His point through to me. Then it hit me. My ‘never’ says, “It will never get better”, “Things will never change”, etc… But Jesus’ ‘NEVER!’ is very different…
He NEVER leaves.
He NEVER gets upset.
He NEVER is disappointed.
He NEVER takes His eyes off of me.
He NEVER blinks.
He NEVER flinches.
He NEVER turns away.
He NEVER loses.
He NEVER forgets.
He NEVER curses.
His love NEVER fails.
He NEVER breaks His promises.
He NEVER sleeps.
He NEVER gets tired.
He NEVER gets tired of me.
He NEVER changes.
He NEVER lies.
He NEVER treats me unfairly.
He NEVER shames me.
He NEVER stops thinking about me.
He is NEVER surprised.
He is NEVER confused.
He is NEVER overwhelmed.
He is NEVER lacking.
He NEVER runs out of ideas.
He NEVER worries.
He NEVER doubts.
He is NEVER afraid.
When Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you”, the Greek word for ‘never’ is stronger than our limited English language can show. The word actually is a double negative that strengthens the denial. It says, “I will (never, no never, in no case, not at all, or in any way) leave you.” Pretty definitive isn’t it?
So what do we do with that? Get connected to Jesus. Stay connected to Jesus. Let Him fill in the blanks in your faith that feel like things will never be different. Let Jesus into those wounded little kid places in your heart that feel like things have always been this way and will always be this way. Connect to His infinite / intimate ‘NEVER’. Because He NEVER stops being willing. He NEVER stops being Immanuel, God with us.