YOU are loved.

God loves you.
You've probably heard that at least a hundred times in your life, if not more. It's not too crazy to hear that, and you might not have any trouble believing it. I can say I love all the orphans in Africa, and as true as it might be, I don't even know every orphan in Africa. It doesn't mean I think that any given orphan is special or unique in my mind. It doesn't mean I think about each individual orphan. It means I feel love for the collective orphans- the group. Today I want to tell you that God's love isn't like that.

God's love doesn't rain down on the masses. John 3:16 says "For God so loved THE WORLD." That doesn't mean His love is a general thing, that He doesn't really desire to love YOU. He individually packages up His blessings and love and continuously sends it to each and every person on Earth. God CREATED you! He didn't just sorta throw together a generic baby and then forget about you. He designed you- sketched your fingerprints and painted the unique color of your eyes. You are absolutely beautiful to Him. He knows your little quirks and talents, because He gave them to you! Never, ever feel like "God loves everyone" means that you blend in with the crowd. It's easy to fall under the impression that if you ran into God in the street he'd say, "Oh, I remember you. You're the one who was born on such and such a date and prayed to me every day. Thanks!" In my mind anyways, it'll be a little more like this, "(Insert name here)! I've been waiting for you! I was thinking you might need a hug. I saw someone laugh at you earlier, and I know exactly how you feel. Just to let you know, I made your hair the very same color as the Apostle Paul's was, because I knew you would think He was a cool guy. And my inspiration for your eyes came from this little place in France that I made where you can see the dark green trees at the base of the Alps with a glorious sunset in the background. That's what I wanted people to think of when they see your eyes. You're beautiful."
Not that I want this to be focused on just physical beauty, because God knows your inner self better than you do. He knit you together in your mother's womb. The one and only Almighty Artist designed your heart and mind. When you were concieved, God didn't release you into the world with a promise to see ya later. He proudly looked on as you took your first steps, clapped after you sang your first song, and cheers every time you smile at the gorgeous nature that He made for you. God not only loves you dearly, because He is your Father and the reason your heart beats, but He THINKS about you! As you're reading this, I pray and believe He's nodding and saying, "You'll never understand how much YOU (you as an individual) mean to me." This is God we're talking about. He is limitless. He can think about every single person specifically at once, and have a million things to say about every one of us in that moment. If He wants to (and I don't think He'd have to do this because He could just think about more than 1 thing at once) He can pause time and think about you for a little bit longer than there's time for. Some people have said to me, "I feel guilty for praying about such silly things because God has so many important things to be thinking about and working on." Don't feel bad for talking to God about little things! For goodness sakes, He's already thinking about you!! Might as well talk to Him, so He doesn't have to just sit there and listen to your thoughts like He's got a hidden microphone on you or something. Just because He's thinking about you and helping you pass a science quiz doesn't mean He's not at the exact same moment protecting a group of missionaries as they smuggle bibles into China, helping a Preacher say the right thing to touch his congregation of 5,000 hurting people, and freeing children from the human trafficking system in the United States.
True, God loves everyone, but that doesn't mean that His love isn't worth something. He doesn't HAVE to love everybody, He does though, because He created you perfectly. He created every person perfectly. Also, He doesn't love everyone in the same way. We are all his beloved children, and He will take care of us, but with one person He might say, "I love you so I'm going to bless you with a success in that business you're opening," and to another, "I love you so I'm going to make your business fail, because then you can start a daycare center and realize your amazing compassion for children." He knows you better than you know yourself. How has God loved you lately?

Galatians 4: 8-10 "In the past you did not know God. You were slaves to gods that were not real. But now you know the true God. Really, it is God who knows you. So why do you turn back to those weak and useless rules you followed before? Do you want to be slaves to those things again?"