"Never Out of Reach"

"Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;" (Psalms 103:4)
I had this thought yesterday about how long God has kept me from destruction; and by destruction, I am talking about all the times when I could have been killed, but somehow I was not. I am talking about way back when I was a child, to the days when I was in the Navy; all those times when I did things which could have cost me my life, but I was somehow protected and kept secure. I don't even remember even ever being in a hospital overnight, except to be with someone who I was visiting or staying with. We are loved by God so much more than we realize. When they say that God cannot learn, I believe that it means about us also; God knew me even before I was conceived in my mother's womb! I just can't get over that, because it means that He has had His eye on me for a very long time; way before I had ever even given Him the time of day. Do we take that for granted? Yes, I believe that we do. I think we seem to just assume that is how it is, but never really give it much more thought. But when you think of the complexity of all that is involved, it is just mind blowing to try and figure it all out. As for that closing Scripture from yesterday, there was so much stuff hidden in those few verses, I could do three or four days of posting just on that. But I think the most important thing that was brought out, was that part about, "Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!" It's hard to imagine that there were people suffering from being bitten by a snake that refused to look upon that bronze snake which had been lifted up on that pole; but we know that there were. It's just the same for those of us who are suffering from being bitten by sin; even as we are heading for destruction, how often we refuse to look upon the Son of God lifted up upon that cross, so that we might receive redemption. I think back to all the times that I was offered to look upon Him and did not. And yet, there were times when I was very little, I remember crying out to God for help; looking up to the stars and asking God to do something in my life. Maybe, just maybe, He was always within reach, even when I was in rebellion and wanted nothing to do with Him. God was always my Heavenly Father, even before I was thought of my anyone else...
"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding." (Ephesians 1:3-8) NLT