I was sitting in a church meeting the other night and I had a funny thought.  Actually, I should probably clarify that I believe that the thought was a gift from the Holy Spirit as I was minding my own business when this happy thought invaded.  Ready for it it?  Here it is:

God has no disillusions about you.

…and he never will.  Disillusion is defined as “Disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as one believed it to be.”  But God, being awesome, never had any illusions about you in the first place!  He knew exactly who you are – were and will be – at every point in your entire life before you ever took your first breath.  He’s well aware of your struggles, character flaws, irrational fears and pains.  He’s not surprised when we act the way we do because He has the omnipotent perspective.  Let me share a story from my personal life.

When my wife and I got married it’s safe to say that there was a fair amount of “illusionment” and consequently, disillusionment.  We both had ideas and expectations for what we hoped and thought marriage should be.  For example, I thought that we would always resolve conflict in a quick and logical manner….not so.  When emotions get involved logic goes out the window.  I was pretty disappointed by this sudden realization that my marriage wasn’t perfect – and that it was going to take work to maintain.  I am happy to report that my wife and I are happily married (no need to worry) but it’s a perfect example of disillusionment.

In keeping with marriage example lets turn to the book of Hosea 1:2 where the Lord tells the prophet to “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD”.  Hmmm.   The prophet must have been aware of what kind of women Gomer was.  He must have known that loving her was going to be a challenge.  He probably suspected that she would stray from him, and he would have to continually shower her with mercy and forgiveness.  Hosea knew what he was getting into and he married her anyway.

God is like the prophet – he knows exactly what He’s getting into with us and He gets in anyway.  Throughout scripture Jesus used vivid imagery in describing the church as a bride… yes, a bride that prostitutes herself, but His bride nonetheless.  And no matter what we do, because of the cross of Christ and the righteousness He gives freely to us, in His eyes we are pure.

So God will never be disappointed with your performance.   He’s well acquainted with human frailties and can identify with both your suffering and your weakness.  He knows that on your own the best you can do is less-than-worthless: it’s disgusting and despicable (Isaiah 64:6).  He knows that apart from Him you were hopelessly ensnared as a slave of sin (Romans 6:20) without the slightest chance of ever doing the “right thing”… and yet, He chose to marry you anyway.

Isn’t that a relief?  To know that His choosing you isn’t based on your good behavior?  To know that you who are accepted in the beloved are free from the punishment of the sin that you will commit tomorrow – even if you choose to sin intentionally?  This is the gospel of Jesus Christ: that God so loved the world that He gave His only son and whoever believes that Jesus’ sacrifice was good enough, shall not perish but have ever lasting life.

…That is awesome.