Food and Water is necessary for the survival of our bodies.
God’s love is necessary for the survival of our souls.
But even if we have bread and water to sustain our lives, it seems we will eventually crumble under the pressure of living in a broken world if we do not live, breathe, believe and trust is the love of God.
Many of our relationships in this life may become unfulfilling if we never fully learn to trust/believe in God’s love for us. Or, if we rely too heavily on love found in relationships, when they end or someone passes, we ourselves are left void, questioning our purpose in life. Many of us will search our entire lives to find love. We look for it in our family, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends…searching to fill that “something” in our hearts. God wants to be that “something.” In fact, He wants to be the ONLY something.
When we finally believe and abide in God’s love, new life springs into our souls, our lives, our relationships and our destiny. Purpose has been found. Eternity becomes a blessed assurance.
Could it be as simple as spending time in the presence of God? Could it be as simple as seeking His arms as often as we can and from that Source everything flows?? John 4:10 promises, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” It’s by no accident Jesus uses water to describe himself or His spirit: water is the source of life’s abundance. It’s the “gift” of God’s love from which ALL good things flow.
Cynthia Herald writes, “The very best thing I can do for myself is to seek to grasp the depth of God’s love for me. If I am secure in God’s devotion, then I am free to love others without depending on them to meet my need for love. Only God’s love is everlasting, unreserved and complete. His love forgives, molds, disciples and equips me to live. There is no equal or substitute for God’s love.”
I remember a time when the thing I wanted most in the world was to find a man who was brave enough to ask me to marry him, not afraid of a woman who wanted to make a difference in the world and someone strong enough to stand in the fire of trails with me. Oh AND I wanted a man “crazy” about me! These were very high expectations. So I was in a constant state of turmoil questioning how in the world this man existed…and if he did, would he find me and keep his end of the covenant? Sometimes, it felt hopeless.
Then God gave me a revelation…much like the one Cynthia wrote above: “If I am SECURE in God’s devotion [to me], then I am free to love others without DEPENDING on them to meet MY NEED for LOVE.”
First, I had to ask myself if I was depending on the idea of a husband to fulfill my need for love and validation and purpose.
The answer was yes. I would find validation in knowing that he needed me as much as I needed him. But this plan was destined to fail! We are all human and at some point, “Mr. Right” would not meet my needs to be loved and validated. And if he thought I was "Mrs. Right"...at some point, I would fail him.
There is only one person who can meet that need: the person of God. God showed me that if I had a genuine loving relationship with Him, then not only would God meet my deepest desire to be loved, but it would take the pressure from having to expect so much of someone else. I could take “Mr. Right” off the pedestal which gives us a chance at a workable, real and fulfilling relationship
Let’s learn how to focus on learning and believing and basking in God’s love…and all other things will flow from it.
Very important truth!
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