GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE –

Some of us may remember times when we felt like this little child, finding comfort in the loving arms of her mother. It was a place of safety and security—protection from what we saw to be a world of animosity. A world where love seemed to have been abandoned.

It’s true today, the love of God has been abandoned by far too many, replaced by hatred, pride, and greed. Even among those thousands where discord is spreading, say that they represent Jesus but have forgotten who he truly is. They have forgotten his humble nature, his desire to serve mankind, the unconditional love he showed the world—to the point of allowing himself to be tortured on a cross. All for the sake of mankind. Because of his love for us.

Even in this dark world of today God’s love rises above all other kinds of love we could possibly imagine. It rises high above the mother’s love we remember, above the love of our closest friends. We must—all of us—open our hearts wide and earnestly ask him to fill us with this love. Such love will be more than we can contain within ourselves. It will spill over to those we meet, showing itself in the kindness we show each other.

Such kindness has been known to be contagious. “And Lord, how we need such kindness now! Help us practise such kindness wherever we might be. Because such kindness—such an expression of your love—can save the world from the evil that’s facing it today.”

Today, some of us might feel like the child in us once did. We search for a binding up of the wounds—for a soothing of the soul, for a shoulder to cry on. But the anxiety within will not let up. Will anything at all help us deal with this?

Listen to God. Hear what he has to say.

Repeatedly, day by day, God calls us back, reminding us that he’s there, reminding us that we’re not alone. If we let him, he who fully understands and feels our pain, will come close to help us carry it. He calls us back to the refuge he offers. Back to his compassionate love and care. In his arms we can find peace, a release from the clutches of anxiety.

What we most need right now is to trust God and follow him wherever he calls us to go, our heads held high, shining forth our light for others to see. With our courage and strength, he calls us to follow the path he sets out for us—in our own personal journeys and with prayers for the strength and wisdom of those who were called to be our leaders.

And as Jesus once said, “. . . surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

marja