There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (1 John 4:18)

The world is full of wounded people. Easily hurt, overwhelmed with guilt, shame, anxiety; and crippled by fear. Does this describe you?

Why are we so fragile?

Many of our lives are resting on a cracked foundation, built with the rotten wood of self. When people like us, we feel strong. But when people criticize, argue, complain or even register indifference in our presence, the world seems to crumble around our feet. Joker once asked Batman, “Why so serious?” That is the wrong question. The most telling one is, “Why so worried?”

The most commonly used description of humanity’s collective state of the soul is “insecure”: I am not sure I am going to make it? I am not sure I have enough in myself to make it? I just want to crawl in a hole and die. I know you have had morbid thoughts like this – – because I do, all the time. Just look around you, why else are people so angry? Why do we have to micro-manage what we say to people? Why does everyone seem to be so uptight when it comes to politics, health, money, and relationships? Because fear and our own personal inability to effect change makes us all a little apprehensive.

So what is the cure? How do I obtain security? I want to have an indestructible, unassailable and invincible soul. Don’t you? I know it can’t be who we put in office, Hilary or Donald, it can’t be a good interest rate on our investment, or people hitting the like button on my Instagram pic. So what is the solution?

Before I tell you, you must be ready to be honest with yourself. You must stop playing games and quit hiding. Stop acting like you are better than you are. Get alone where it is quiet, sit down with nothing else (no phone, Ipad, computer or TV) and ask yourself this:

“Do I ‘feel’ loved by God?”

I know we are not to predicate our faith on feeling – – however, feeling is a crucial part of human existence. I once read your soul is like a man riding a 1,000-pound elephant. The man represents “reason”, and the elephant is “emotion.” Reason can only move a person so far…but once emotion gets moving, wow, you have real power to live by.

So, do you feel loved?

O.K., what do I mean by loved? I think the feeling of love includes three components: I know I am wanted, I know I am accepted, and I know that I am delighted in. Scripture says love is patient, kind, keeps no record of wrongs…but remember, we are talking about feelings. Feelings are your personal perception of another’s attitude toward you. That is where it gets tricky.

There is a story about a man and woman who got married and after 40 years of marriage, the wife was fed up with her husband’s lack of communication. So she demanded they get marriage counseling. The counselor asked the wife what was wrong with the marriage? She replied, “He doesn’t love me.” The man said, “Sure I do. Where did you ever get that silly idea?” The wife in disgust said, “You never say ‘I love you.'” And the man looked at her and flatly stated, “I said I loved you 40 years ago on the altar. If I changed my mind I would have told you.”

She needed to “feel” loved. Everyone does. Especially when it comes to a God we can’t see. We all need to know: Does God want me, does he accept me, and does he delight in me? How you answer and then process this will either make or break your soul. Oh sure, you can act like God’s opinion doesn’t matter, but when you are alone, and it is deathly quiet, you are wired to wonder, “Hmmm, how does God view me?”

And don’t act like it doesn’t matter. . .

As scripture says, “The fool has said in his heart there is no God.” So you know he exists, and you know his opinion about you matters more than anyone else’s. So, does God love you?

This morning, I really meditated on this. Even I, a pastor for 20 some odd years, need to know. I need to feel.

Instantly, this is what came flooding to my mind:

(1) JESUS TOOK MY PLACE ON THE CROSS: That is how much God wants me. In order to take my place, he voluntarily chose to come down to this smelly and violent earth from heaven, and be nailed naked on a tree. He stood in for me. He clenched his teeth, shut his mouth and allowed the world to rip him apart. . . for me. No one else would ever do that for me! Especially if they really knew me – – a mistake-prone myopic jerk, an enemy to his holiness, a selfish man – – he wanted me, even then. He wants me now!

(2) AT THE CROSS, GOD’S WRATH WAS FULLY UNLEASHED, AND COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED: The Father’s anger toward me was aimed at his Son. All of it. Jesus drank the cup of wrath “down to its dregs” at the cross. In those short three hours, God emotionally unleashed all his eternal fury, “It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief.” (Isaiah 53:10) The pounding Jesus took fully satisfied the justice of heaven. So, now, there is no more anger to unleash on me, wrath is quenched. Through Jesus, and because of his payment, when I exercise faith in him, God the Father accepts me…I belong!

(3) THE RESURRECTION IS GOD’S STAMP OF DELIGHT AND APPROVAL: It is one thing to have your sins paid for, to have wrath extinguished, it is quite another to be embraced as worthy. I know a man who once told me that he knows God has to allow him in heaven because of the cross, but he isn’t sure God likes him and wants him to be there. Like a member of the family that sits in the corner and everyone is good with it; this man felt like God had to love him, but he really didn’t want to love him. No, no, no, when you believe, you become a valued and irreplaceable member of the family. You are the brother that everyone can’t wait to see, the beloved college kid returning home for Thanksgiving. Where mom is waiting at the door, little brother is watching from the window and dad is texting wondering when you will arrive. God longs for you in the same way, because he delights in you. God likes me!

When you know you have the invincible God on your side, you can be sure you have nothing to fear. You are secure.

Here is one of the most reassuring verses ever given to the person who begins to feel loved, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) Why are you worried that God, who already gave you his Son, may not give you exactly what you need this moment?

He broke the bank when he sacrificed his Son.

So why so worried? Is it because you really never believed in him in the first place? Maybe that is why you are so insecure…I would be too!