How do you love me?
By Jeannine Sawall
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty
Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no
longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17
I
was sitting on the boat in the middle of the lake, reflecting with a
discouraged heart. Life had been full of difficulties and sorrows of late, and
it had left me exhausted and disheartened. The many verses I knew about God’s
love kept coming to mind. Verses that reminded me of His great love for me: Ephesians
2:4-5, Romans 5:8. Verses about how
He delights in me: Proverbs
8:31, Psalm 18:19. Verses
proclaiming I am his beloved daughter: 1
Samuel 12:22, Ephesians 5:1. Grumbling, I said under my breath, “Yeah…maybe
His kinda-loved-just-a-little-bit daughter!”
I
looked up and out, and noticed the boat was covered in a swarm of dragonflies.
It was then that the Lord gently rebuked me and reminded me of His great love
for me…not as second choice daughter or His last thought…but His every thought.
Every dragonfly pair created a small heart. Imagine the entire vessel adorned
with little blue hearts. He said to me, “How do I love you? Everything I
created sings about my love for you. Even these dragonflies are my personal
love letter to you.” Tears filled my eyes as I quietly confessed my doubts and
discouragement to Him and thanked Him for His love letter.
Oftentimes
in the midst of life, we can feel the Lord has forgotten about us. Or maybe not
completely forgotten about us…but we aren’t on His list of top hundred (maybe
million!) things for the day. We can question His love for us when tragedy
strikes or we fall onto hard times. After all, if we had the power to control
all things, we wouldn’t let any beloved child experience the kind of trial or
trouble that seems to plague this earth. Sometimes, just in our everyday
busy-ness, we may doubt God really delights in us with His great love. We
question if He really rejoices over us with singing. However, if we take a
moment to look outside of ourselves and look up, we will be reminded of His
great love through all the wonders He created with us in mind.
When
life brings doubts, ask the Lord to send assurances. He is faithful to lift us
up. How does He love us….let me count the ways. He loves us so much that even
dragonflies are His personal love letter!
GOING DEEPER:
1. Have you ever felt like God’s
“kinda-loved-just-a-little-bit daughter”?
What do you do to capture and replace those thoughts?
2. When you
doubt God’s love for you, how do you bring your heart back in line?
FURTHER READING:
Jeannine
is a wife and active mother of four boys. She works in property management and
is a part of the Special Events team for Oakwood’s We Women ministries.
