DEVOTION: February 4

I wish you could know how much God loves you. I wish I could hold your face in my hands, look deep into your eyes, and convey with any amount of adequate truth how fervently, desperately and unmistakably He loves you.

Your pain never goes unnoticed. When you hurt, He hurts. When you cry, He is right there. In your loneliness and your anger, in your jealousy and your questioning – His love is immense and deep and ready to pour out over you like a weighted blanket to ease your cold and anxiety. Even in your sin – your known and unknown sin, even that sin you dive into head-first and with glee – His loving arm reaches out and waits, and waits, and waits for you to grab a hold.

I’ll never forget when God loved me the hardest, loudest and deepest. It was during the darkest time of my life – a time when life was gray around me and I made it even darker by my own undoing. I hid and ran from Him, and can I tell you something? He never left. In fact, He grew closer. He whispered to me so intimately in my ear it was almost audible. He loved so hard I could feel it physically. His mercy and grace were extended to me day after day after day, until I finally reached out and grabbed His littlest finger. The very tip. Not even the whole thing.

His love rescued me from myself. Never once did He shame me or scold me or reprimand me or punish me. He never tattled on me or closed the door to me. His love was an absolute unexpected kindness that led me to repentance. There were some natural consequences, but never exile or punishment. Never shame.

This is the love I want you to know. The kind that doesn’t make sense on paper and flies in the face of what we call justice and fairness or if I deserved it. Because I certainly didn’t. The kind that silences the critics and brings hope to the weary.

My friend, oh. how. he. loves. you.

When has God’s love feel the realest, the most intense in your life? If you haven’t felt it like that yet, pray and tell Him, and ask Him to open you up to feeling the full measure of His love.

“Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!” (Ephesians 3:19, The Passion Translation)