Unfailing (Unlimited) Love
by Janet Sketchley
Have you ever personalized a Bible verse as your own?
Some verses we speak back to God in prayer, and others we cling to as promises.
In an effort to fill my mind and spirit with good things, I’m working to memorize Scripture verses. I have them on note cards that I see in the morning and when I’m getting ready for bed, and I try to recite them to myself at traffic lights and other moments of waiting.
But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
I will sing to the Lord
because he is good to me.
Psalm 13:5-6, NLT*
What I first loved about this one is that ending with “He is good to me” builds a warm reassurance that yes, God is good to me. It makes these verses good weapons for times of discouragement.
Then I saw something new. Don’t you love it when God does that?
“I trust in Your unfailing love” — why had I limited that to myself?
This is a personal psalm, affirming the writer’s personal trust and declaring his needs, but trusting God’s unfailing love can go way past the boundaries of trusting for ourselves.
We can trust His unfailing love for others — for the ones so painfully heavy on our hearts, the ones we fear won’t turn to Him, the ones in crisis, the ones who are sick or grieving, lonely, or lost.
He doesn’t just love us. His love reaches for each one, and that love has the power to draw and to save.
When we speak these verses, silently or aloud, it’s an opportunity to remind ourselves that His unfailing love is big enough to trust for our loved ones as well as for our own needs. And yes, He is good to us.
~~~
Janet Sketchley is the author of the Redemption’s Edge Christian suspense series and the devotional book, A Year of Tenacity.
*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Thanks for the opportunity to share a guest post, Janice. As a little background, the bird in that photo is a Northern Gannet (I’m told) and it’s not native to the Nova Scotia shore where I saw it. We’d had high winds, and they must have blown the bird off course. I chose this picture for the verse because the bird’s lonely posture looking out to sea reminds me of how life can make us feel, sometimes.
Huh! And I thought it was just a “water bird” or a slim seagull! Thanks for the note. Good to know the background for the picture.
I had to ask my birding friend. I’d never seen a bird like that, but he sure does look like he needs some encouragement!
Janet,
This reminds me that I need to get back to memorizing scripture once again. I fell away with everything else going on. But this is a goal to try again. I guess I can start with the VBS scriptures coming up soon.
Blessings
Janis
VBS Scriptures will be good to pick up with. I need to get back into my rhythm after just the weekend. Forgot to take my index cards away with me. I am seriously wondering if I’ll ever remember which reference goes with which Psalm quote, but at least I’m working at it. The main thing is to get the words into my spirit.
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Love the revelation you’ve shared, Janet, and the photo. Perfect!