A Great Love Story
Every good love story has certain elements; tools of the trade for hooking you in and retaining your attention. There must be a reason to keep you turning those pages.
There is the overlooked heroine, neglected or even mistreated. She may be a little quirky, but her quirkiness is adorable. She is smart and strong and has big dreams. And it goes without saying she is beautiful. Her story is so intriguing, you simply must stick around to see if she finds true love.
There is the rugged, strong, and handsome hero. He’s not your typical dude, he’s uniquely kind, sensitive, and even charming. It may take a while for the hero to see the heroine for who she is, but when he does, he is awestruck, and he endeavors to win her over.
A villain—or a cultural or emotional impasse—keeps the two apart. Their journey towards love is intriguing and irresistible. They have much to overcome before they can be together. The storyline is a fun, gripping adventure that keeps you full of hope that things will work out. And, yes, love prevails in the end, leading to the happy-ever-after ending.
God’s love story is a bit different. Our infinitely loving hero loves us from the get-go. We don’t have to win God over! There is no question about it. All we need to do is sink into that irresistible cozy chair of loving embrace.
We may not feel especially pretty, witty, or wonderful, yet God adores us. God has us clearly in his sights as the “apple in His eye.” We may not feel especially brilliant or talented or possess a particular whatever we think will make us worthy, yet God desires nothing more than our hearts.
“I have always loved you.” Malachi 1:2 (GNT)
“Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family.” Ephesians 1:5 (MSG)
(Isn’t the Message version fun, the way it reads like a fairytale?)
We may not even want to admit that God exists, or we may curse him for his lack of apparent goodness, yet God seeks our company anyway! God has always loved us. There is no earning his love. There is no need to become anything other than who we are. Our heavenly hero loves us, plain and simple. This isn’t rocket science. God crafted us just the way he wanted to, so why wouldn’t he love what he made?
In the typical love-story narrative, the distant lovers long to be together. They dream and scheme of life together. “If we could just get away us two, life would be a fairytale,” they say. In God’s love story, our ever-present hero is always with us.
“Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love.” Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV)
In a typical love story, one of the characters might be consumed with “making it,” gaining a certain status, becoming successful enough, or good enough, to seize the love they seek. This subtle and ugly villainous way of thinking can also sneak into our heads. So much of life is transactional, we tend to think gaining God’s love must be the same. I must become what God desires before he will approve of me, we not-so-cleverly think. But here is the thing. There is no need of becoming anything other than who we are! God loves the real you! Furthermore, our perfect hero loves us as we are, not as we should be.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you.”Jeremiah 31:3 (ESV)
“His steadfast love endures forever.” Psalm 136 (ESV)
(Just so we get the point, the Psalmist says it 26 times! Sometimes, I still don’t get it.)
Yet, here is a fascinating twist. When we know God’s radical, unconditional love, it will cause us to want nothing less than to live in that love! We will naturally show love to others! To be who we really are! God couldn’t do anything else but love us because that is his essence, his character. And we can’t help but become little beacons of love ourselves as we bask in our hero’s love for us!
Some are afraid to admit to such a dangerous truth of unconditional love, in fear it will enable people to live however they want and somehow make a mockery of God. The last thing God needs from us is to be a watchdog for him. He can handle things quite well on his own.
These past couple of years have not been easy. We’ve endured a worldwide pandemic. In America, we are at odds with ourselves to such a degree that it feels unprecedented. And now, a war is raging in Europe. Many feel as though our church has let us down through these hard times, being too busy pointing fingers instead of lovingly meeting the needs of the hurting. Many are rethinking what church should even look like and sadly if they even belong there.
What keeps me turning the pages of my devotion to God is his never-ending, always engaging, radical love for me! I am so thankful God’s love story for me overcomes what any villain can throw at me. I am also especially thankful God is forever faithful to me even when I’m the villain!
Even if I turn my back on Him and figuratively go to bed with something less—as did Gomer—God will lovingly take me back time and time again. Even if I squander away a wonderful relationship with others or my Savior—as did the prodigal son—he showers me with love and welcomes me home. Even if I get lost along the way and am desperate and all alone—like the one lost sheep—God will come and find me! My hero is always seeking, always forgiving, always loving.
Like me, you may at times question how loveable you are. If that’s the case, remember who it is who loves you no matter what. It’s God! And God is love. It’s what he does! You are the recipient of your hero’s grandiose, radical, makes-little-sense love.
That my friend is a page-turner! And it’s no fairytale, it’s for real.
“The only thing keeping us from intimacy is our own self-sufficiency.”
—Samuel C Hughes
