Let’s continue to reflect on becoming aware of the expressions of God’s love that we started on the last post.
Third Way God Expresses His Love – We are Never Alone
There are times in our lives when we all feel lonely because we are alone. For some, that loneliness can make us feel unloved, but that is not true. We must always find alone time to pray so we can experience God. It is in the times of prayer that we slowly grow in our intimate relationship with God. It is in building this relationship that eventually helps us to fully know that we are never alone. Intercessory prayer can be a source of God’s love pouring out to others. This type of love can bring us comfort knowing that others are praying for us as well. In the Communion of Saints, we are never alone. Resting in that reality can be of great comfort as it is an experience of God’s love.
Still, even in praying and knowing we are not alone, active hours can be difficult at times. Even in those times, we can pay attention to how God expresses His love to and through us. We can ask Him to give us a spark of hope that can come from us being more aware of how He loves through us. For example, we may be alone, but the simple acts of watering the flowers or feeding our pets can put us in the presence of God‘s love and how He expresses it to them through us. Those acts are expressions of caring and nurturing. As we look upon the flowers and smile at their beauty that is dependent on us watering them and the pets whose health depends on us feeding them, we can experience God‘s love even when alone. It is being expressed through us. Grab it. Notice it. Does God care more about the flowers or our pets than us? No. Notice the care in the nurturing. It’s for them, but it’s also there for us if we take the time to notice it.
Fourth Way God Expresses His Love – When We Receive It From Others
If we are all expressions of God’s love, at times we receive it not as it is coming through our hands, but by receiving it from others.
Sometimes our pride makes it difficult to receive. It is far easier to give the cup of water than it is to be weak and vulnerable and in need of receiving it. In those moments we should let our guard down and receive it. At the same time, we should never be upset that someone loves differently than us. That can make us feel that love is missing when, in reality, it is not.
On the contrary , we should rejoice that we can experience God in a way that is different than how we express and, therefore, experience Him. So often we try and control how someone loves instead of receiving it from a God who has an infinite number of ways to express it.
To be loved in the same exact way we love is nice, but we can grow in a greater union with God when we are aware that His expressions of love are as vast as the number of His children.
Of course, there are times when we easily receive God‘s love, but are in such a hurry that we don’t pause to take notice. The smile, the compliment we brush off, the directions given when we can’t find something, the grocery attendant who takes our cart for us or the person who takes away our dirty plate are all expressions of God’s love for us.
We also take for granted the people that choose to use their gifts to help because we only see it as their job. All people like doctors, store clerks, garbage collectors, truck drivers… They are all there as helpers and we would do well to consider that the help they give is an expression of God’s love for us.
Summing It All Up
We can all console God’s heart by becoming noticers of the expressions of God’s love. It seems so many hate these days. Who will receive God’s love that is being thrown on the ground by those who let hate consume them? God needs to be love. He needs to express it. We all have free will. We all have the ability to say no to the love and to infect the world with hate. When we say yes, however, we inject it with love.
Say yes to giving love and receiving it from others because it is God’s love that needs to be expressed and He longs for us to both give and receive it with gratitude. We should all take the time to be noticers so we can fully embrace God‘s love. We can comfort His heart that is so deeply wounded when others shun it. Notice how He expresses it through others. Notice how He expresses it through you. Love Him back by noticing, by embracing it, by receiving it with an open heart and letting it flow through you with that giving heart. By doing this, we can console God’s heart that is so deeply wounded by the lack of love. We can grow in our relationship with Him and we can be the prayer of love knowing that love conquers all.
“Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God” (Matt 5:8). Hate and judgment block our ability to see God. They come at such a high cost. By choosing to always look for and acknowledge love, we choose to see God, to love Him and to console Him. While others who do not choose love will see the world differently than us, we know we are far better off. It is through the lens of love that we can have a pure heart and see God even now while we are still on Earth.
Remember only God is love so do all you can to be the powerful prayer of love. When we say yes to it, we send a spark of love into the world and by that we can set the world on fire with the love of God. He is longing for us to do this as He has so much love to give. Be the vessel that says yes to giving it and yes to receiving it. Say yes to being the expression of God’s love!
Points to Prayerfully Reflect On and Talk to God About
What are some of the ways that you are an expression of God’s love when you are alone?
Be mindful of the love you have received today. How did God express His love to you through others? Can what you have learned about God’s love and how He expresses it through others, help you with a present concern you are praying to God about?
“Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God” (Matt 5:8). What are some ways you can be pure of heart and, therefore, better able to see God?
So much of God’s love is rejected by others. We see this reality in the Old Testament, New Testament and throughout history. We see it happening today. All of history is a drama of people rejecting and accepting God’s love. Talk to Jesus about this.