I woke up in the middle of the night last night with this song in my head. So I decided to play it and listen to it. And as I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling in the darkness, tears came to my eyes and I began weeping.
Because I got a vision as I listened to this song. There are so many things that I'm excited about doing and seeing in Hawaii, but this is one of the things that I long for most.
I want to stand at the edge of the ocean, my toes deep in the sand, the wind on my face, and water as far as I can see. And I want to be reminded of how incredibly small I am in this world. But of how indescribably great His love still is for me. I want to be overwhelmed by His love. I want to drown in His presence.
Friends, we chase after so many things. We turn to so many things to fulfill us. To consume our time and attention. Things that one day will all pass away. Things and people that can never fulfill us and love us as we were created to be loved.
When all the while, the Lord is right there. Standing by, watching, with arms wide open.
The parallel of Hosea and his wife the prostitute Gomer has been on my heart lately. Because do we really realize- really really get in our spirit fully- how much He loves us? He LOVES us.
He sees us chase after other loves, after the things of this world, after the temporal pleasures it has to offer. He sees us and despite our ugly past mistakes, despite our complicated present situations, despite how many times we turn our eyes away to other things, He's still there and He still longs for us.
We don't have to do a thing. We don't have to chase after Him or earn His love. We don't have to prove ourselves worthy of it.
All He wants is to love us. If we'll only accept His love. He only wants our love and our hearts. Fully. All of our heart. Not only a meager portion as we turn to other things to fill us.
But instead, we treat Him as a second option. As a backup plan for when things go wrong and don't turn out right in our eyes. When He should be first! He needs to be first in our lives. He wants to be first in our hearts.
He delights in us and longs for us, friends. He wants you and me. And when we truly get that in our spirit, it should wake us up in the night. It should bring us to our knees and it should cause us to weep. Because His love is that great for us.
He only wants to love us lavishly and to receive our passionate love and devotion in return. If we'll only stop chasing after the loves and distractions that can never satisfy our souls and turn to the One Who is divine Love and the only One able to love us and fulfill us as He created us to be.
"My beloved speaks and says to me: 'Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.'" Song of Solomon 2:10-13
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