Girlfriends in God - August 28, 2012


August 28, 2012
Hearing God’s Love Song
Sharon Jaynes

Today’s Truth
“He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing,” (Zephaniah 3:17 NIV, 1984 ed.).

Friend to Friend
I was riding on a chairlift at Keystone ski resort in Colorado. “Single,” I had called out while standing in line—the proper etiquette for those skiing alone. No one took me up on the offer to share the chair…and I breathed a sigh of relief. I was alone. I was glad.

As the gears churned and the cables strained to pull my metal chair up the mountain, I sensed God’s presence surrounding me. I wasn’t alone after all. Wrapped in the down of His love and zipped up with the security of His grace, I settled in for the brisk morning ride. The great Rockies dressed in winter’s garment of glistening snow stood tall all around me. Strong. Powerful. Majestic. Sure. The lapis vault of heaven canopied the earth with wisps of feathery brushstrokes. Delicate. Winsome. Graceful. Changing. It seemed as if the breath of God kissed my cheeks with the tingling crispness of that Colorado morning.

As the braids of metal drew me higher and higher, I heard a mother and her daughter begin to sing. “Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing. Power and majesty praise to the king. Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your name.”

Like an old couple that warms with remembrance when “their song” comes on the radio, I basked in knowing that God had specifically pushed G-5 on the jukebox just for me. For they were singing our song—God’s and mine. It had been our song since I first heard the words in 1994. And it seemed God had just commissioned two of his children to serenade me. He was wooing me once again with music that wafted from behind and embraced my heart.

“He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing,” (Zephaniah 3:17 NIV, 1984 ed.). God sang His love song and I drank it in.

I closed my eyes, captivated by His evident love for me. A moment of sudden glory in the Rockies. I didn’t want to get off the chair lift. I thought of Peter’s words to Jesus after he had seen the transfiguration up on another high mountain two thousand years ago: “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah” (Matthew 17:4). Like Peter who had seen Jesus’ sun-drenched face illuminate and His body clothed in light, I didn’t want the moment to end. I wanted to pitch a tent and settle in. But just as Peter had to return to the valley below, I had to return to the flatlands.

Treks down the hill are always part of the mountain peak moments of sudden glory. That moment in the Rockies, when God wooed me with our love song through the timbre of two of his children, He was simply giving me another reminder of His love for me. Remember, He whispered. “I have loved you, with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness,” (Jeremiah 31:3).

I slid off the chair lift and onto the snow packed ramp. With a push of the poles and a dig of the skis, I headed back down the mountain once again. And our great love story continued from the peaks of the Rockies to the muddy, slushy, slopes and masses of people below. God had pursued and romanced my heart once again.

God has pulled out all the stops in pursuit of your heart. But many, I dare say most, don’t see it, don’t hear it, and don’t taste it. “Blessed are your eyes because they see,” Jesus said, “and your ears because they hear,” (Matthew 13:16).

We yearn to be cherished as a rare treasure. We dream of a love that is fresh every morning with anticipation of what the day may hold. We long for a love that will not wane with time or diminish with the doldrums of everyday life. And that is exactly what God wants to give you. I pray that you will hear God’s love song and find His love notes lavishly tucked in the moments. That you will recognize the romance of God in the routine of your life. That is exactly what you can expect when in him we live and move and have our being becomes a reality in your life. It is then that you experience a sacred union with God.  

Let’s Pray
Dear Lord, Thank You for relentless romance of my heart. Thank You for love that is fresh every morning – a love that will not wane or diminish with time. Thank You for the moments of sudden glory where You make Your presence known in my life.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn
What does Psalm 136 tell you about God’s love?

What does Jeremiah 31:3 tell you about God’s love for you?  What picture do the words “drawn you” paint in your mind?

Do you and God have a favorite love song? Click over to my blog/devo post and share your favorite. I’ve already told you mine. Now, what’s yours?

More from the Girlfriends
Do you long to feel close to God but sense there’s something missing? That you’ve missed that mysterious formula to make it happen? Do have a glory ache – a persistent longing to experience God’s presence and working in your life, but not quite sure how to make it happen? If so, my new book, A Sudden Glory: God’s Lavish Response to Your Ache for Something More, is just for you. Join me in discovering how to erase the lines between the secular and the sacred and experience a deeper more intimate relationship with God than ever before. While you’re there, you can download a free chapter or watch a video book trailer.

Seeking God?
Click here to find out more about
how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Girlfriends in God
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Originally published Tuesday, 28 August 2012.

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