How do I know God loves me?

I was feeling a lot of gratitude one day about good things going on in my life and was sharing it with a wonderful person who has spent much time mentoring me in my spiritual growth. With his help, I’ve learned more about God’s ever-present love for us. His response to my story was, “That’s just God loving you!”

I love that. When we see good things happening; feel a deep sense of peace, inspiration, or healing; or recognize beauty in a moment of nature, it’s all evidence of God loving us.

How do we know God is real? We just need to look for the manifestations, the evidence, of His all-encompassing love. If we are looking to find God as an anthropomorphic being, a big man in the clouds, for example, then we are limiting God’s ability to be what the Bible says God is: omnipotent, all, everlasting, perfect, Love, Spirit.

If God is all and is Spirit, He must be everywhere at all times. And the good news is that our Father-Mother God actually is. How do we know this, especially at times that seem bleak? God is evident in all of His beautiful creation and in His tender love and guidance at hand. We may need to look deeply at times to see evidence of God, but He is always there and is not the source of any evil. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, referring to God, defines creator in part as “the animating divine Principle of all that is real and good; . . . God, who made all that was made and could not create an atom or an element the opposite of Himself” (p. 583).

We can become aware of the evidence that God is, even when God’s ever-presence seems hidden. One time, when I was feeling a bit out of sorts, I decided I would go for a surf session. Once in the ocean, I just sat still for a bit and mentally embraced all of the beauty surrounding me. The sun was shining; the sky was crystal blue; the ocean was calm; a pod of dolphins swam peacefully past me.

There was no way I could deny God’s presence in that moment. I felt washed clean and fully embraced by the very present and tangible God, good. It was clear to me that what all of that beauty represented was an expression of God loving me. All I needed to do was look for the evidence—the love, grace, and peace—of divine Love’s presence.

We can become aware of the evidence that God is, even when God’s ever-presence seems hidden.

Oftentimes, God’s love is heard and made evident in quiet messages that come to thought. The Bible states in the book of Isaiah, “Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (30:21). The best way to resolve a problem or decide a direction to take is to listen and respond to the angel messages from God that guide us, often coming to us as quiet spiritual intuitions.

When I was expecting my first child, I drove to visit my sister. When it was time to return home, I had very distinct intuitions that I should travel a different freeway than the route I would normally have taken. The alternate route was a little longer, but the intuition was so strong that I decided to take it.

About halfway home, the car broke down, right at the offramp where it was safest and easiest to get assistance. I was able to walk to a very nearby gas station, where there was an attendant who kindly walked back to the car with me and helped get it running again. I made it home without further incident. That was God loving me, guiding me clearly.

In “the scientific statement of being,” Mrs. Eddy includes this affirmation: “All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all” (Science and Health, p. 468). To be made manifest is to be visible, recognizable! God is made manifest in His perfect, dear creations. As it says in Genesis in the Bible, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them,” and “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (1:27, 31). That includes you and me.

No one was a more pure and spiritual proof of God than Christ Jesus. In the book of John, Jesus declared that he was evidence of God, the Father. When people asked him if he was the Christ, he responded: “The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.  . . . though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him” (10:25, 38).

He also said that his followers could do these works, too: “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also” (John 14:12). As spiritual children of God, we are each the evidence, the proof, that God is. God’s great goodness shines through our lives in transformation and healing.

When we’re faced with challenging situations of any sort—regarding finances, relationships, health, or anything else—we can open thought to see evidence of God loving us in ways big and small. In fact, in the last chapter of Science and Health, “Fruitage,” and in the Christian Science periodicals—the Sentinel, The Christian Science Journal, and The Herald of Christian Science—there are numerous examples of God’s love being made manifest in people’s lives.

All creation is made to prove the supremacy and allness of divine Life, Truth, and Love—synonyms for God. So, the next time you see or feel a particularly good thing happening, for you or for others, you can joyfully know, “That’s just God loving me!”

JANUARY 11, 2021 ISSUE