The Wonder Of Your Great Love
Posted by:
Bible Blogger on
December 8, 2006 at
6:36PM EST
NOTE: This is the last of the "big transfer" from the other site.
The first half of Psalm 17:7 (NIV) says "Show the wonder of your great love."
The
Psalm was clearly written to God and it's asking Him to show us the
wonder of his great love but it's amazing how it can apply to us.
When's the last time you showed your great love to someone?
Let me tell you a story.
A
guy was having a rough year. He had lost his family, his home and was
working too hard to still not make ends meet. He was living alone in
an apartment little bigger than the average living room in most homes.
He still believed in God and that He was going to move on his behalf
but he was getting tired and defeated by the constant spiritual warfare
and the troubles we get by just living in the world.
Now he was
having a really rough week. He had thought things were turning a
little bit. He heard rumors at work that they were going to reorganize
and he was going to make enough money to live on without having to
survive on beans and weenies. He met a beautiful Christian woman who
seemed interested in him and talked like he did of getting to know each
other and possibly having a relationship. He thought that perhaps this
desert that never seemed to end was starting to get some blades of
grass peeking through the sand.
Then in a span of twelve
hours he was told that his position at work doesn't really matter to
the powers that be. He was just put back in a little box that didn't
really describe all he did but it made it easy for the bosses to ignore
him that way.
Then if that weren't enough, the "good Christian
woman" he was talking to and had dated suddenly turned on a dime and
said it wouldn't be a good fit. No reason why...just "sorry" and a
goodbye without any explanation.
Can you imagine where this guy
was in his spiritual walk? It's easy to sit here and say "well, he
should just suck it up and go on because that's life." However, when
you take that incident in account with all the other negative factors
and blows in this man's life, you realize that this guy is like the
fighter in the tenth round who's been knocked down a dozen times. It's
harder and harder to get up off the mat. Every blow feels more intense
than the last one. He wonders how long he'll be able to keep getting
back up.
Now...this guy goes to do laundry. A simple, ordinary,
everyday activity. After loading his socks and undies in a machine he
heads toward the counter to get change. A woman stops him.
"Here," she says handing him a container of quarters. "Something tells me I'm supposed to give this to you."
He
of course questions it and she just confirms that she feels led to give
them to him. He thanks her and starts his laundry. They don't speak
or start up a conversation.
Thirty minutes later the guy's
standing in the laundromat just staring at the television. He's not
really watching the show with all the events of the week rolling around
in his head. Even with the surprise gift, he's still feeling alone and
hurt. He's feeling unloved and like no one around really understands
or cares. That's when the woman is suddenly right next to him.
"You
know Jesus loves you, right?" she asks in a voice that's not really
meaning it as a question. She's delivering a Holy message.
The
guy's stunned and doesn't know how to respond to such a powerful
message given at the right time. He finally croaks out that it doesn't
feel like it sometimes.
"I know," the woman says. "But He does." With that, she walks off and leaves.
The
guy breaks into tears with the message of love that God chose to send
to Him. That reminder that even with all the problems and times that
feel so painful and hopeless that He's still right there and that He
still loves him.
That's a wonderful story, isn't it? The best
part is that it actually happened to someone. That raises a challenge
I want to place in front of you.
Would you have stepped out in the way that woman stepped out?
It's
hard to talk to a complete stranger about anything let alone deliver a
message from God. How many times have you felt a prompting to give a
kind word or give someone a sandwich and just shrug off the feeling
because you're uncomfortable? It seems so easy to be so nice but
sometimes it's almost impossible to take that one step.
In this
case, this woman delivered a powerful message of hope to someone who
desperately needed it. If she had decided not to do it, who knows
where that guy would be now. That night could have been the night he
walked away from his faith for all we know. However it didn't happen
because that woman obeyed the Lord.
You may never face a
situation like hers. You may never have the Holy Spirit tell you to
walk up to someone and remind them Jesus loves them. However...you may
be blessed to do that. I do mean blessed. You're a messenger of GOD!
When that time comes fight the urges to sit still. Stand up to the
dark forces that will be telling you to stay silent. Show someone the
wonder of your great Love...your love for Christ and your willingness
to do anything for the one you love.
You never know what a blessing you can be with just one sentence.
