No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:37-39)
For the last few weeks, I have been writing about relationships, primarily dating relationships. I spent most of my life being single. I dated some and eventually got married to my best friend. Life has been a journey. The most important relationship I have clung to throughout this ride is my relationship with Jesus, my number one.
I believe we all yearn for relationship. We may not all want a romantic relationship, but I believe in my heart that we all yearn for true and meaningful connection with someone we care about. At times, we will even do crazy things to pursue that type of love. As amazing as it is to love someone and be loved in return, the truth is that people will always fall short. Even the most incredible people make mistakes and let us down. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t desire and pursue relationships. It just means that people are, well, people. We shouldn’t rely on any other human being to be our source of happiness or contentment in life. As a newlywed, I can say that my husband brings me so much joy. However, he doesn’t always know what I’m thinking. He can’t read my mind. He hasn’t been with me all my life to see me grow and develop. Our history only goes back so far. As much as I enjoy our marriage, when fear or insecurity hits, when the storms of life come and when my heart aches for something more, he doesn’t hold the answers to my deepest longings…only Jesus does.
My Savior, my love, my best friend knows what I’m thinking at any given moment. He understands the motive behind all my actions. He always knows the intentions of my heart. He has seen me through it all and we have a history that began on the day I was born. The one who created me knows me inside and out. And therefore, he is the only one who can truly define me. He has my life and my future mapped out from birth to death. He is my fountain of everlasting truth, peace, joy and love. His fountain never dries up. When I lean on Jesus as my source, I don’t have to rely on my husband to be my everything. He is and always will be an incredible gift, but I don’t have to put the pressure on him to have all the answers.
What’s more amazing is the idea that my Savior yearns for me. I don’t know about you but I used to have the false notion that God tolerated me. In my heart, I believed that God was gracious and merciful, because he could squash me but instead chose to tolerate me until I could get it together. When I struggled, I felt horrible because I reasoned, how much could God tolerate? My life began to change when I realized that God is in love with me. He is crazy about me and desires me. When I struggle, I can run to Him, knowing that His heart beats to lock me in His embrace and be my freedom from anything that would attempt to entangle or hinder me. It tells me in Song of Songs 4:9 that He is captivated by just one glance from my eyes. It changes my world when I understand that the object of my affection and the source of all love, pursues me and desires me more than I could ever desire Him. We could know intimacy, love and true affection regardless of our relationship status or whatever season of life we find ourselves in. He is the model of true love and holiness and is more than enough to satisfy every longing and need that we have. My life has been and always will be a journey of growing in love with Jesus and allowing myself to let His love radically transform and bring joy to every facet of my life.
