Thought for the Day:
I’ve been reading a book that I find is very encouraging and
challenging, Timothy Keller’s book, “Walking With God Through Pain and
Suffering.” He closed out one chapter
with a true story by a woman named Andi who was going through a painful
divorce. This story hit me so powerfully,
I wanted to pass it on to you. I think
you’ll find encouragement in it as well.
The story begins with Andi’s anguish of her divorce being
finalized. She pours out her heart to
God as she struggles with feeling abandoned as she slips off her wedding ring…
“Kneeling by my bed that night, my heart broke, unable to contain my
gratitude for God’s persistent love through a mess that should have driven him
away… Instead he came closer than ever.”
“As I slipped the ring off, a prayer poured from my heart. ‘Now I want
to give you the devotion I thought I would be giving to an earthly
husband. You alone are worthy of my
whole heart’s trust, and it’s yours for the rest of my life.’”
“How could a vow of such loving trust pour from a heart that had just
lost so much… and be made to the One who had been my only hope?”
“The only explanation is that while so much was dying, something was
coming to life.”
“I had been changed by the experience of this unstoppable love
constantly moving toward me when I was coming to him with nothing to offer but
weakness, confusion, and need. I cannot
adequately explain what happened. I just know that, in the end, this prayer was
the only possible response.”
“As I got up off my knees and climbed into bed, I thought, I should get
myself a new ring to remind me of this vow I’ve made to the Lord tonight.”
“The next morning, I met with a group of women with whom I had been
meeting weekly for prayer. We never
talked a lot about what we were going to pray for, we just prayed.”
“During the time of silence with which we always began, I noticed one
of them coming over and kneeling in front of my chair. She took a ring off her finger, held it out
to me, and said, ‘I feel like the Lord wants you to have this ring. He wants you to know that you are his
beloved, and he is betrothing himself to you for the rest of your life. He will be your protector and provider. He will never leave you or forsake you. He will be with you forever…”
“I had mentioned nothing about getting a new ring {to anyone}.”
“I can’t tell you how many times in the years since, a glance at that
ring calmed my fear, filled my loneliness, and comforted my grief.”
“I wanted a ring to remind me of my commitment to the Lord. Instead, I ended up with one that will
forever remind me of his commitment to me.”
[Timothy Keller, Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering].
Wow! That is a powerful reminder
of God’ love for us. One funny thing
about love is that someone may feel it towards us and we can be completely
oblivious to it. We have no idea how
powerfully someone might be consumed with love towards us; but that doesn’t
mean it doesn’t exist or it isn’t real.
We just remain unaware.
My prayer for each of us is that we might come to understand how
powerfully God loves each of us. May He
opens our eyes and give us a glimpse of His devotion and care for us. May your heart be filled with joy as you
discover His “hidden” love for you. No
matter what pain you’ve experienced. No
matter what heartache you’ve endured. No
matter how lonely or deserted you feel.
God is there. With you. Beside you. Supporting you. Enabling you.
Loving you.
Ephesians
3:17-19 “And I pray that you, being rooted
and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's people,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know
this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of
all the fullness of God.”
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