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The Bible’s Viewpoint

God​—Does He Care About Me?

“I CAN’T take it anymore!” she cried. “If only I had the nerve to kill myself, I could end the drudgery of life in this doomed world.”

Jill could “see no purpose in living in a world of disappointment, hatred, and violence.” She thought relief would come from drugs, alcohol, and music. But it didn’t. When divorce sent her family members in five different directions, she asked: “Where was God all this time?”

When bad things happen to you, do similar questions run through your mind? Frankly, where is God in our tragedy-plagued 20th century? It is a question that must be faced by everyone who wishes to believe in a God of love. Does God really care what happens to people? Does he really care about you?

God Does Care

Look around you. If God does not care about people, why did he put forth the effort to create delicious foods, cuddly animals that warm the heart, and awesome natural scenery? Even ugly urban slums are brightened by beautiful sunsets. As the apostle Paul told the ancient Lycaonians, God “did not leave you without evidence of himself in the good things he does for you: he sends you rain from heaven, he makes your crops grow when they should, he gives you food and makes you happy.”​—Acts 14:17, The Jerusalem Bible.

Yet it must be conceded that beautiful sunsets will not change an unhappy family into a happy one. Frolicking animals do not remove the pain caused by the loss of loved ones. Tasty fruits cannot refresh hearts emptied by despair. If God really cares about people, why isn’t he doing something about the causes of suffering today?

The answer is that he is doing something about it, and you can benefit. Consider the following evidence that God does care about you.

How We Know That He Cares

□ God has purposed a wonderful paradise to replace the present suffering system of things. The Bible clearly describes an earth where “death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.” (Revelation 21:4) Who will live under these conditions? “The meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.” (Psalm 37:11) Why not open your Bible to Isaiah chapters 11, 35, and 65 to read more about this Paradise?

□ To make it possible for YOU to live in that Paradise, God has provided his beloved, only-begotten Son. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Thanks to this arrangement, even the dead can benefit from that Paradise earth by means of a resurrection to life.​—John 5:28-30.

□ So that YOU can take advantage of God’s provision, he has arranged to have the good news of his Kingdom preached over all the earth. “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) Under the direction of his Son, God has commissioned his people to “make disciples of people of all the nations.”​—Matthew 28:18-20.

But in order to benefit from God’s concern for you, there is something else that you must do. You must show God that you care about him.

Do You Care About God?

Does that sound strange? It shouldn’t. After all, in any relationship between two people, it is not reasonable to expect just one of them to do all the caring, is it? The same is true of a relationship between a person and Jehovah God. Time and again, his Word makes this clear. “Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you,” urges James 4:8.

Pointing to what God expects from his people, Deuteronomy 30:19, 20 says: “I have put life and death before you, the blessing and the malediction; and you must choose life in order that you may keep alive, you and your offspring, by loving Jehovah your God, by listening to his voice and by sticking to him.” How tragic if we missed out on the everlasting benefits of a relationship with God because of a lack of proper concern on our part!

‘How can I be sure that I care about God, that it’s really from my heart?’ you may wonder. Suppose God were to ask you to take an unpopular stand in his behalf or to perform a socially unpopular service to him, such as public preaching. How would you respond? Would you be willing to show by your deeds that you care about God and his Son? Jesus warned: “For whoever becomes ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man will also be ashamed of him when he arrives in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”​—Mark 8:38.

On the other hand, Jehovah and Jesus appreciate very much those individuals who show concern for them and their true servants today. Jesus said: “If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is a disciple of mine, I tell you this: that man will assuredly not go unrewarded.”​—Matthew 10:41, 42, The New English Bible.

Yes, God does care about you, about right-hearted people all over the earth today, and even about those in the grave. But caring is a two-way street. Do you care about God? If so, and if you are willing to show that you care, an everlasting future can be yours.

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Why did God provide these things if he doesn’t care?