What if God Really Does Love You?

December 28, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” 1 John 4:16 NLT

The most amazing and hard-to-believe aspect of the God story is that this amazing King of the universe loves humanity. He loves all of humanity. But, even more amazing. He loves us as individuals. He loves you and He loves me. It’s a concept I am still struggling to apply to my life. What about you? How deeply have you contemplated His love for you?

God loves you because of who He is. The first letter of John declares that God IS love. He loves because it is His character to love. That can be difficult to remember when reading some of the judgements in the Old Testament! Remembering that God’s character is love raises the question of why hard things happen. “If God really is love, why did He allow this to happen to me?”

The questions don’t negate the truth. God is love. Yet, He allows tragedy and difficult consequences. He doesn’t fix everything in our broken world. Sometimes life is confusing. But when I remember that God is love and that He loves me, I can focus on that love and let the questions rest. Relying on and trusting in His love brings peace. I may not understand, but I can choose to let go when I believe God loves me.

God loves you regardless of what you do. God doesn’t reject people who make mistakes. He doesn’t write you off when you mess up. His loves doesn’t change based on your behavior. That scolding voice you hear in your head is NOT God. It may be the memory of a scolding adult in your childhood, but it is not Your Heavenly Father.

When you and I make foolish and selfish choices, God does not dismiss us in disappointment. He doesn’t reject you because of your imperfections. He reaches out to lift you up and help you make the corrections or to help you walk through the consequences. He loves you and I enough to help us learn from our mistakes.

I have realized that making a mistake is one of my greatest fears. Some of that was born into me. My mother has told me she heard me practicing words in my crib before I said them in public. I have an in-born desire for excellence. But there is a line between aiming for excellence and avoiding mistakes at all costs. I’ve realized a mistaken belief that a mistake meant I should be rejected. Becoming aware of that has brought freedom.

Perhaps people may reject me if I mess up, but God never will. I still need to fight the wrong thinking, but it doesn’t control me anymore. If any of that resonates with you, I hope awareness brings you freedom.

God loves you right now. You don’t have to earn it. Knowing that and living it out are two different things.

A Christmas Blessing for 2024

December 24, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

Dear Friends,

A Christmas blessing for you! Enjoy this holiday season and keep Jesus at the center.

With love,

Cathleen

Do You Truly Trust God’s Love?

March 23, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” 1 John 4:16 NIV

Do you struggle to trust God completely? I know I do! What if we truly depended on God’s love as an incontrovertible fact rather than a beautiful idea that we talk about all the time, but don’t fully believe? Wouldn’t that change the way we responded to challenges?

If I rely on God’s love for me, I have no fear. What do you fear? Underlying so much of my hesitation and procrastination is fear of failure. The fear of “doing it wrong” has kept me from trying so many things. It has colored my conversation. It has driven me toward perfectionism in so many ways. It’s kind of silly, but fear of failing in front of my peers almost caused me to pass out!

I was a freshman drama major at my first drama student party. What game do drama majors love to play? You guessed it! Charades!

Drama kids are just as competitive as sports kids. Our identities are on the line if we can’t perform. We crave the approval of the audience and when the audience is other drama kids, we feel pressure to validate our existence with an excellent performance. Even when we play charades. The game was announced. I was terrified.

A Christmas Blessing

December 23, 2023 Cathleen Zahradnik

Dear Friends,

A Christmas blessing for you! Enjoy this holiday season and keep Jesus at the center.

With love,

Cathleen

Is God Really With Me?

December 10, 2022 Cathleen Zahradnik

“‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).’ ” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1:23‬ ‭NIV

‬‬As I listened to the preacher’s story, I had the same questions. He shared a time of sitting in a chair feeling alone and abandoned by God and saying to God, “Don’t You care? Don’t You love me?” The story continued with the man’s little child coming to him at just that moment, climbing into his lap, putting tiny hands on either side of his grown-up face, looking directly into his eyes, and saying, “I love you, Daddy!” At that moment the preacher recognized the love of God coming to him in the form of his child.

I had the same question, “Don’t You care? Don’t You love me?” and I wondered how God would answer me. Later in the service, God used that preacher to answer my questions in a way that I recognized as Him sending His love to me.

There are times in life when we feel absolutely alone. Rejected and abandoned by the people we most hoped would be there for us. There are even times when we feel rejected and abandoned by God. Key word: FEEL. It often seems like He is not there as we walk through difficult circumstances. You may think, “Where are you, God? Don’t You care? Don’t You love me?” Maybe you are in one of those times right now. I am so sorry that this time so tough but let me encourage you to look around and recognize Immanuel, God with you. How is God sending His love to you today?

Legalism or Love?

July 30, 2022 Cathleen Zahradnik

'So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. ' Colossians 2:16-17

I recently had the privilege of bringing someone to take their driving test. They had already taken the written test and gotten in their practice hours. Now they just needed to convince the evaluator that they were not a threat on the road! They had to demonstrate a knowledge of the rules and the skill to keep them. Thankfully, they passed! Now they have the freedom and privilege of driving solo. It’s both a relief and a responsibility.

Imagine someone saying, “I don’t want to drive. There are too many rules! They won’t let me drive as fast as I want, and they won’t let me drive on the other side of the road. If I can’t drive my way, I don’t want to drive at all!” Sounds pretty foolish, doesn’t it? When someone is going for their driver’s license, they accept the noes as part of the package. They recognize that the noes are part of order and safety so that driving can be a useful and enjoyable experience for everyone. They focus on the freedom of driving, not the restrictions.

Why is it that Christianity has become known as a religion of noes?

Happily Ever After? Really?

July 23, 2022 Cathleen Zahradnik

I have loved you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3

I was 14. He was almost 18. It was my first "real" relationship. I remember the moment he said "I love you. And I've never said that to anyone before!" I believed him. He believed himself. We were happy. What else would we be?!

It lasted almost a year. An eternity as far as teenage relationships go! When it ended there was no amicable separation or catastrophic blowout. I saw him kissing someone else. He knew it and stopped calling. I was cast aside. His love for me had come to an end. Where was the happy ending every romantic movie, book, or fairy tale promised me? Was it my fault? Was I not lovable?

Romantic love. It seems like everyone wants it. It certainly is big business, but is it good business? Does it promise something it can’t deliver? Romantic love sells products, movies, and experiences. An entire TV channel is devoted to romantic movies! Every single one has a happy ending. But it doesn’t really happen, does it? You've been hurt by the fractured fairy tale, just as I have been. If we all know that "happily ever after" isn't reality, then what is it in us that cries out for love that lasts forever?

Experts recognize that the need to be loved is basic to every human being. If that is so, then there can only be one reason: We are God-wired for love. Why? Because you and I are made to be loved by Him. he has hard-wired us to want to be loved unconditionally, unceasingly, and unapologetically. The problem is that, as in so many other areas of life, we look for that need to be met in an earthly and natural way, rather than in a heavenly and supernatural way.

Are You Worth The Risk?

July 9, 2022 Cathleen Zahradnik

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5

What could have been one of my most terrifying childhood memories has become one of my most treasured moments because someone decided I was worth it.

At ten years old I was already comfortable swimming in the deep end of the pool. In fact, I loved it! One of my favorite games with a friend was to push ourselves from the surface to the bottom of the pool and then back up. We had spent summer mornings at swimming lessons for the past several years. I knew my way around the water and had a great time splashing, swimming, and playing water games.

My dad has always wanted to see as much of the world as he can. When you have a family, traveling can be cost-prohibitive, but Dad found that renting a camper for our summer vacations gave us the opportunity to go further on a smaller budget. One of his favorite activities was planning our itinerary and determining which new places we would visit.

My ten-year-old summer we took our first trip to the Midwest to visit with some college friends of Mom and Dad. They had a really cool house with a gas fireplace that opened into the rooms on either side of it. For someone who had never seen a gas fireplace before it was awesome! The house was situated in a community that had a pool and tennis courts and other recreational activities.

One afternoon we all went to the rec center, Mom and Dad, their friends, their friends' kids, my siblings, and me. We kids had no complaints about playing in the pool while the adults watched tennis in an adjoining area. The adults were within easy distance of the kids but didn't feel the need to be watching us every moment. We were all old enough and comfortable enough in the water.

This pool had something that made it especially enticing: A water slide! Our family had a pool, but not a slide. Every one of us got in line for turn after turn, sliding and splashing into the water. We relished the excitement of whishing down the slippery slide, hanging in the humid air, and then plunging into the cool, chlorinated wet.

I had been down the slide a number of times without incident. But this time when I hit the water, I became disoriented and couldn't find which way was up. The taste of chlorine filled my mouth. I was flailing my arms trying to find my floating balance and heard myself making unintelligible noises. "Help!" I realized it was my voice calling out.

Through my panicked splashing, I saw my Dad turn and start running toward me. Before anyone had time to think, he dove into the water, fully dressed — glasses, watch, sneakers, and all — and pulled me to the side of the pool. We both got out dripping, and out of breath.

Limitless

August 29, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:11-12 NIV

One of my favorite places is the beach. I love to stand on the sand with the expanse of the ocean in front of me, miles of blue over my head and a long stretch of sand as far as my eyes can see to either side of me. Can you see it? Ahhhh!

God’s Will? Be Joyful, Prayerful and Thankful

February 1, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

It was a life-changing, perspective-shifting moment. I was in college, overwhelmed by an emotional situation that wasn’t going the way I wanted it to go and I was miserable. I was a member of the Geneseo Chamber Singers and we were heading back to town after a trip to Boston. As I sat in the back seat of the bus feeling extremely sorry for myself (a very familiar feeling at that time, by the way) I had a sudden revelation. I would say it was one of the first times that I became aware that the Holy Spirit was revealing something to me. I was immediately conscious that being miserable was my choice, had been my choice and didn’t have to be my choice. It was the beginning of Lent and I made a decision to give up being miserable for Lent. Truly, I did! My life has never been the same because after that Easter, the end of those forty days of Lent, I have never gone back to being miserable.

I’ll be honest that for a while I overdid the positive perspective and ignored anything negative without dealing with it, but over the years I think that I have found my balance. Balance comes as I acknowledge what is and choose to trust God’s goodness in the midst of it.

August 8, 2026

A - C = P: Anxiety - Control = Peace (Repost)

'Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. ‘Philippians 4:6-7 MSG

I was listening to a podcast when I heard a quote that brought so much clarity, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Here it is: “Anxiety results from wanting to control something God has not given us to control.” I didn’t remember the name of the person or why she was on the podcast, but what she said made so much practical sense. (I looked it up later. So, if you are interested, it was Joanna Weaver’s podcast, The Living Room, and the guest was Sharon Hodde Miller, author of The Cost of Control: Why We Crave It, the Anxiety It Gives Us, and the Real Power God Promises Us.) As I pondered her statement, a formula took shape in my brain, “A – C = P,” Anxiety – Control = Peace. Easy to remember and a goal worth aiming for.

Anxiety is something we all experience. Anxiety steals peace and commands focus. Whether it’s something personal about your family, or a job, or something broader like politics and the world situation, anxiety creeps up behind us, leaps upon us and gets us in a stranglehold. Ever feel that way?

Your brain goes in circles, trying to resolve something you are powerless to resolve. You can’t sleep and every waking moment is consumed with mental and practical fruitless attempts to solve the problem. Suddenly, it seems like nothing else is happening in your life. What started as a thought becomes a huge shadow. What do you do?