Make Sure They Know I Love Them

Each morning from May 10 - August 17 between 7:00 and 7:30am I sit in a circle, we call it a huddle, with 40 college students and give them a word, a challenge, a short devotional. And some days I feel like God is pouring out his words through me and other days I feel like I'm grasping at straws and totally under qualified for this.

This week was just like that. I am not good at mornings. I heard someone say that today and I like it more than saying I'm not a "morning person".  Guess what? Neither are college students. The Late the night before I found myself searching through my journal, my Bible and my head trying to figure out what I should share. I had a lot of ideas but at the same time none at all.

Often I bring a challenge.
From Hosea 6:3, so let us press on to know the Lord.
From Psalm 127:1, are you building for God's kingdom or for your own?

But this night felt different. I stopped in my searching and prayed, "Lord, what would you have me tell them?"  

I felt him saying, "Make sure they know I love them." 

How simple. How true. How profound.

And so I shared Ephesians 3:16-19, one of my all-time favorite verses.
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy 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.

HIGH. WIDE. LONG. DEEP. 

In my head I fall into an ocean and I'm surrounded by the water on all sides. It presses in, envelopes and surrounds me, touches every part of me. Just like the love of God.

So on the days when it's just all too much, when you've run ragged and the challenges are on every side know that He loves you. It's the foundation, the cornerstone. Close your eyes, lean into Him and hear Him whisper, "Make sure you know how much I love you." 

If God Asks Something Crazy

I consider myself a pretty adventurous person. I'm up for trying pretty much anything once. A weird food, adrenaline pumping activity, strange home remedy, whatever. I went through a phase where I got caught up in pretty much anything someone asked (dared) me to do and tried to break a board with my head. NEWSFLASH: It's really hard and if you don't know what you're doing you might end up with a goose egg and some splinters in your nose. Not that I'd know personally...

Even though I'm adventurous I think I have a good head on my shoulders and I think I know when something  is just plain stupid crazy. It matters who asks, who dares. If a friend says to try it, I'm more likely than if a stranger says it but ultimately it's my decision. So why do I try the crazy? Why would I do something potentially dangerous, uncomfortable or weird because someone tells me about it? 

I trust the person asking. I believe they've been there and done it before. I think the risk is worth the reward. 

Recently I started reading the book of Hosea from the Bible with the She Reads Truth community. It's a little book in the Old Testament written by the prophet Hosea and I've never really dug into it before. The most I really knew was from the fictional book, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers (which I highly recommend by the way!)

God asks Hosea to do something really crazy, to take a prostitute for a wife and continue to pursue and love her even as she turns away again and again. God uses their relationship to show us his relentless pursuit for us even as we turn away again and again.

God asked Hosea to marry a prostitute...

Noah to build a boat in a dry land...

Abraham to sacrifice his son...

Peter to step out of the boat and walk on water...

Jesus to leave heaven and come to Earth as a small, helpless baby...

Has He ever asked me to do something crazy? Have I missed it? 

Would I recognize it as God's call on my life or would I dismiss the idea as illogical or irrational? 

I don't feel like I've done anything that crazy for God and maybe He hasn't asked yet.

But I sure don't want to miss it when, not if, when He does. 

In order to know if God is asking something crazy of me, I have to know God. To be in His presence, spending time in His word, able to recognize His voice. Only then will I be able to say, "Yes" when he asks me to do something crazy. I pray that I will say yes. 

Because I trust the person asking. I believe He's been there and done it before. I think the risk is worth the reward. 

(Image created by me on picmonkey)