Relentless Love

At the end of June my Chevrolet Malibu quite suddenly stopped working so we replaced it with a Hyundai Elantra. Until I started driving a Hyundai (and Elantra specifically) I hadn’t noticed how many other vehicles on the road are made by Hyundai. I notice them without even trying; they are everywhere, literally - over the summer I drove over 10,000km (6,000 miles) in some very remote areas and even there I saw a plethora of Hyundai vehicles.

It’s like that: once your eyes are opened to a new reality, you see things you never saw before.

Lately, I’ve been writing and contemplating the love of God. It’s infinite and I’ll never come to the end of it, and I’ve noticed my eyes are opened to a new reality [of love] and I see things differently. When I hear news about tragedy around the world, I’m more apt to notice God’s loving-kindness, even in the face of suffering.

I’m particularly struck by his loving-kindness in the scriptures, especially the OT. Too many times I’ve equated the law with God, as if God is the sum of the law. It’s not true. God is not angry that he must be appeased and feared. The more I read, the more I’m struck by his love. The Bible isn’t full of his anger towards mankind, but a story of unfolding, and relentless love. It starts in Genesis, in the garden and continues through to Revelation.

God is sovereign and holy which demands protocol. God is also personal, and when our hearts are tender and surrendered toward him, he is moved with compassion toward us. Such is the story from 2 Chronicles 30; Hezekiah (one of Judah’s 7 good kings) sought after the Lord and brought reformation to his nation. He made a call to celebrate their forgotten feasts; the problem was that to do it correctly required protocol the people weren’t ready for. Hezekiah prayed that the Lord himself would cover the people’s ritual cleansing so that they would be able to participate. The wonderful truth is the Lord listened to Hezekiah’s prayer, because he (the Lord) loved the heart that spoke it.

My Boy has been struggling to adjust to a private school this year. He views the stricter discipline as punishment because he doesn’t understand our heart for him and for his future destiny. Today we struggled over getting math homework finished. His heart attitude was in rebellion towards the homework; the longer he persisted in rebellion, the harder the consequences BUT when he surrendered, my Man and I were quick to reward the work he had accomplished even though it wasn’t completely finished.

Our separation from God was never about the outward sin. Sin is the symptom of a greater problem – a rebellious heart. More than anything, God wants a heart to heart connection. He knows if the heart is right, the law will take care of itself. The bible even tells us this is true. Galatians 5:23 says against the fruit of the Spirit, which beings with love, there is no law.  

God’s love is relentless; he wants a relationship and he will do everything for it. He is faithful, always.

I’d love to hear any stories you’d like to share about God’s relentless love of you; it’s encouraging to hear/read testimonies from others.