I was saved at an early age and raised in church, but I left in a destructive streak of self-gratification resembling the prodigal son, and in some ways, worse. Mostly living to satisfy my own desires, my actions often disrespected God and hurt the people around me. Looking back, the hurt I inflicted on others is one of my biggest regrets.

I struggled to remain on course throughout my teenage years. Shortly after moving away for college, I abandoned God completely but pretended nothing had changed in front of friends and family back home.

I became that person that turns so many people away from God: a total hypocrite.

I eventually grew tired of being a hypocrite, so I quit pretending. On the rare occasion that I would visit home and attend church with my family, I refused to raise my hand when it was asked if anyone had an unspoken prayer request by uplifted hand. I did not have a request, and I was not going to raise my hand just to ease the discomfort of being surrounded by a roomful of hands in the air. (It would have been nice if my family had preferred sitting toward the back of the church!)

When I gave up the hypocritical life, I also took another big step away from God. I said to Him:

I know you are God, but I don’t want anything to do with you. I respect you enough that I will not drag your name through the mud where I am going. So, I will not speak about you. I will not acknowledge you among others. I’m going to leave you alone, and I want you to leave me alone.

For the next five years or so, I lived to satisfy my flesh with reckless abandon while ignoring the God who created me, loved me, and saved me.

During this dark period of my life, I never thought about God. I never read the Bible. I never prayed, and I avoided church like the plague, which makes what happened next very odd indeed.

One day I began to think about my choices, lifestyle, and what God must have thought of me. What began as a small seed of thought quickly took root and grew into an unsettling feeling that God no longer loved or cared for me. I mean, why would He? I wouldn’t have.

I remember very vividly thinking to myself before asking aloud as I drove down the road: “God, I guess you don’t love me at all do You?” There was no response. No bumper sticker or billboard. No inkling of a feeling suggesting otherwise.

The silence was deafening.

With tears streaming down my face, I concluded that I had truly exhausted God’s love for me.

I dried my eyes and composed myself before entering the grocery store. I passed a woman walking the opposite direction midway down aisle one. I was nearing the end of the aisle when I heard a woman’s voice: “Sir…sir.” I assumed the voice was not directed at me and continued rounding the corner.

Again she called out but louder this time, “SIR! SIR!”

I turned around to see her already walking toward me. When we met she fixed her eyes on mine and said, “Sir, when I passed you just now God spoke to me. He wants to tell you something.”

My mind raced with questions. Wait-what? Is this real? Who is this woman?

Her face was outlined with sympathy and love. Her words were sure and compassionate.

“God wants you to know how very much He loves you.”

All these years later, I still get teary eyed when I think back at how God graciously stepped in and stopped a destructive line of thinking before it brought destruction.

And you know what? God is still communicating that message today. He is communicating it to you right now!

This could be your “grocery store” moment. Regardless of anything you’ve ever done, said, or thought, God loves You. He really, really loves you.

Now, you might think you landed here by chance or a mere coincidence, but I believe He has arranged the events in your life to communicate His great and unconditional love for you. So, please hear these words from Him: “I love you! I really do.”

Would you consider receiving His love?

God wants a personal relationship with you, and if you would like to consider this truly amazing relationship, click here to learn how.

Thanks for reading!

Of course, there’s more to my story, but this was the important part, because, like I said at the top of the page, it’s not about me. It’s about you and how very much God loves you.

If this personally impacted you, I would love to hear about it! Drop me a message at hello@johnnydroberts.com.