Incomprehensible Love

I like to ask God what He wants me to write about when I write. It's important because I want to be His hands, His voice, His feet in this world. When I do ask, I'm expecting God to say something specific or "super spiritual", He usually just says, "My love". I think that's because God really wants us to know who He is and what He's like.

A very well-known and popular verse in the Bible is 1 John 4:18, which states that God is love. This Greek word for love is "agape". Agape is a different type of love; different from other translations that mean brotherly love or close friendship. This love means self-sacrifice. One writer defines it as the willingness to forgo personal pleasures or undergo personal trials in the pursuit of increased good of another. It is the act of exalting others no matter what; no matter if they seem to deserve it or not. No matter if they screw up or don't appreciate you. It is an act of exalting them and counting them worthy of sacrifice and service. That is the kind of love that describes God: the essence of who He is.  

What if we lived like we knew this was true? What if, having been restored to God, we truly lived life like God is love; like He loves us in a sacrificial, unearned way? I bet we wouldn't walk around like He doesn't exist, or worse, that He does but that He could never truly love us. I bet our deepest longings would be stilled. I bet we would be more loving with others because we're so dang loved ourselves. I bet we would feel more inclined to go sit before God and talk to Him in a real and authentic way. 

I challenge us now to make the truth that God is love and that He truly loves us in a sacrificial way to be the center of our being. Let's not make our lives about trying harder because that is somehow going to make God love us more. Rather, let's slow down and talk to Him because He loves talking back to us. Let's spend time with Him. He is not above that -- He created us for that.

And now let's allow His word to do the rest of the talking:

"All who rage against you
will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
will be as nothing and perish,
Though you search for your enemies,
you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob,
O little Israel,
For I myself will help you," declares the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 41:11-14

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:7-8

True Love

But now, this is what the LORD says- 

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel;

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the LORD, your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I give Egypt for your ransom, 

Cush and Seba in your stead.

Since you are precious and honored in my sight,

and because I love you,

I will give men in exchange for you,

and people in exchange for your life.

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;

I will bring your children from the east

and gather you from the west.

I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'

and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'

Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth-

everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made."

Isaiah 43:1-7

I don't really think I could possibly add to the richness and beauty of this text. It is the most beautiful love song, the most beautiful love poem that's ever been written. And it is addressed from the God of the heavens and the earth to His chosen people Israel: you and me. 

Since today is notably acclaimed to be the day of love, Valentine's Day, I wanted to meditate on what God's love for us looks like. According to the above text, if God were to shower down on us little candy hearts, they would say such things as 'you are mine', 'precious', 'honored', 'I love you', 'I'm with you', 'My glory'. 

The most amazing thing is that God really does speak to us like that every day, not just on the 14th of February. It may be through other's words and actions, seeing His beautiful creation when we wake up, experiencing the abundance of His favor and protection, or His strong, peaceful voice that we hear when we slow down to listen. He really loves us.

Read these verses a few times; let them soak into your spirit. Because God cannot lie and everything He speaks is truth (Hebrews 6:18), we can know and trust them to be true. And remember, the thing about truth is that it can never change. No matter how we're feeling or what's happening around us, it's real and it stands, never to be shaken, never to be skewed. So, delight in this love; for we are part of God's great nation Israel, and we are His.