2 Samuel 7:24
“For You have established Your people Israel as Your very own forever, and You, O LORD, have become their God.”
This is a great description, "as Your very own". This sounds purposeful and personal. It's as if He had a choice of many and He selected one. While God wants all to be saved and many are, God sees us as special. This goes both ways, as He is our God. The longer we walk with Him, the more special we see that He is.
How can God see us as special, when there are so many believers? He is higher and greater than us, so He can focus on each of us as we pray and live our lives. We call this multitasking, which we are bad at, as we are limited humans. God can also do this as His love is so great that He is able to love many at once. We get irritated if there are too many requiring our attention.
God seeks to save the lost. We were all there at one time. Luke 19:10 says, "For the Son of man came to seek and save those who are lost." All who don't know Him are lost. Many are comfortable there and have no desire to be found. He still seeks to lure them. He will alter life's circumstances to get our attention. He loves us all greatly and wants to be in relationship with us.
Even though His desire is for the "all", He loves us very much and wants us to feel special as if we were the only one. Psalm 139:17,18 says, "How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum! If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You." This is what we thrive on. To get attention and recognition is for us to feel the good thoughts others have towards us. We've already got that in God.
We've got years of hurt of all different kinds. God is the good gardener who overturns the soil, puts in fertilizer, healthy seeds, and waters and cares for us. The seeds are to grow His "fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control". He takes a wrecked life and transforms it.
I can picture a young teen, raised on the street who seems closer to an animal than a human. God is the foster parent that takes him in and cares for him. In time, the child slows down and begins to trust. God doesn't seek to take advantage of him, like some before have. In time, the child learns to smile. Warmth comes to his face. Instead of hiding and avoiding, he seeks out the Father. That's our God.
I think of the passage, Ecclesiastes 3:11a says, "He has made all things beautiful in His time". If we allow Him, He will do it. He takes the abandoned house and restores it.
The flip sides says that, "He has become our God". He wants to be that in our lives. One of the commandments says, "I am the Lord, thy God. You will have no Gods before me". The other one about "no idols" is similar. He wants us and our devotion.
God was very specific about Israel worshipping Him alone. They would be punished if they put up idols or strayed from Him. If we are His child, He will seek to make us singular in our focus on Him. He will weed out competing passions.
This can be misunderstood. Sometimes He says, "no" to something, but often it's not now. This is good for us. Many things can distract us and they can cause harm to us and our relationships. By putting things on hold, can aide us greatly. Our over focus on things causes our love to grow cold.
Many will stay away from God as they fear He will interfere with their involvement in things. While this is true, His work in us makes us better and happier. This is the paradox of God. He ends up doing the opposite of what we feared.
Lord, thank You for being our God. You've taken away so much bad and replaced it with good. Thank You for wanting us and being our God. It's so much better.