Devotions
Have you ever won a door prize or any other kind of prize? If so, do you remember how giddy you felt when you realized you had matched all the numbers? Do you remember the excitement in your steps as you stepped forth to claim your reward? How about the big smile you wore on your face, as everyone in the room turned to congratulate you on your win. It is a great feeling to be a winner!
In his book, The Meaning of Marriage…(2013), the author, Timothy Keller, says: “To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.” In simple terms, when someone knows the worst of you and still chooses to love you, that is godly love.
In times like these it is easy to doubt whether God loves humanity. It is easy to doubt whether God loves you. The logical mind is tempted to wonder how a loving God can stand by and do nothing when there is so much difficulty, so much heartache and so much confusion going on in the lives of people he created in his own image. Where is he when it hurts, why is he so quiet when calamity looms, why can’t he do something? These are the murmurings of the flesh because the flesh automatically rejects pain and discomfort.
If you live long enough you will discover that human beings will lie, they will renege on promises, and they will let you down, but God will never lie. Therefore, if we expect to receive his overwhelming, beyond-all-measure goodness, we must learn to walk by faith. We must daily and continually, despite our fear, summon the strength to leap into the hand of a God who is constant and true; a God who will never fail us.
Has it ever occurred to you that God longs for you? I know, it is hard to imagine that the creator of this universe has the time to engage in longing. The truth is, that is what this whole Christian journey is about. It is about a Holy God longing for an intimate relationship with his people. That is, you, me and everyone else.
Love. Perhaps no other topic in the universe has been talked about, sang about or bandied about as much as the topic of love. Some of us grew up believing that love was this breathless wonder, this overpowering emotion that can leave one breathless or set one’s heart racing uncontrollably. Such love is worldly and often fickle; like froth in a coffee cup it frequently loses air and goes flat.
Recently, I listened to young woman describing her life as she was moved from one foster home to another. She stated, “I always felt adrift, like I did not belong.” This is such a cruel reality, one that would have been ours, were it not for God. Like this young woman, it is easy to feel adrift in this world, it is not our home, but the love of Jesus anchors us and holds us close.
