I’ve been a papa for almost four years. Our fourth granddaughter was born four weeks ago. The same magnetic force I felt holding our first three granddaughters in my arms was repeated once again with granddaughter number four! She is a beauty, a sweetheart, and so much fun to hold.

I know God has an amazing destiny for her.

I love being a girl papa. Our babygirls are sweet, cuddly, funny, and at times a tad dramatic. I think about my granddaughters every day—in fact—multiple times every day. I try to figure out ways to spend more time with them. When a week or two pass without seeing them, I wonder how they are changing. And each time I see them, hold them, and play with them, the same emotions emerge as the first time they were in my arms. I feel absolutely giddy over my granddaughters.

One morning during my alone time with God, I was telling Him about all these feelings and emotions—and out of nowhere these distinct words were imprinted on my mind and heart: “John—the way you feel about your granddaughters is a window into the way I feel about you.” It was a powerful moment with God. And while I know the love I have for our four sweet girls is barely a sliver of God’s love for us, I almost immediately in my mind drew parallels between how I feel about our grandbabies to how He feels about us.

God thinks about us all the time

Psalm 139:17-18: “How precious concerning me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. (NIV)

How many grains of sand are there on the beaches of the Great Lakes here in the Midwest? They are uncountable. Psalm 139 teaches us the same God who created the universe thinks about us all the time. We are on His mind every day. We are never outside of His thoughts.

God gets giddy over us

Zephaniah 3:17: “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” (NIV)

God rejoices over us with singing? Really? The Mighty Warrior takes great delight in us? Yes, yes, and yes! Apparently, Father God gets giddy when it comes to you and me. He loves it when we talk with Him, and He loves to talk with us. To be with us. He even sings over us! It’s amazing when you think about the pure and uninhibited joy He feels when it comes to us humans.

God’s love for us is over the top

1 John 3:1: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (NIV)

Our granddaughters didn’t have to work to receive love from papa and grandma. Our love for them is freely given. It’s unconditional. No strings attached. I find myself thinking only good thoughts toward our four girls. Similarly, God’s posture toward you is this: you’re worth loving without strings attached. You’re His treasured possession. He is bananas about you. The fallen world we live in does everything in its power to strip this truth away from us. Our mortal enemy, the devil, works overtime trying to convince us that God doesn’t love us, care about us, or even think about us. Nothing could be further from the truth.

God disciplines us with perfect love

Proverbs 3:11-12: “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” (NIV)

God’s “papa love” for us doesn’t mean He turns a blind eye to damaging behaviors, attitudes, or motives. He loves us too much to let us continually hurt ourselves. The beautiful thing is even His discipline issues out of deep love for us and with our future best in mind. Even when our granddaughters misbehave (from my perspective, this hardly ever happens), I understand they are simply finding their way in the world. They are becoming their own person.

So . . . what has being a papa taught me about God’s love? That He thinks about us more than we imagine. He is giddy, crazy in love with us, and wants to be close to us. His love isn’t based on how well we perform. And when we lose our way, He doesn’t abandon us. Instead, He brings loving correction.

Being a papa is amazing! Being loved by Father God . . . even more amazing! My prayer for you is that a deeper awareness of His lavish love will sweep over you today.

I’m rooting and praying for you to live out of a deep assurance of God’s love for you,

John