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At Bible study last week, our leader asked us each to bring one of our favorite scriptures on God’s love to study this week. Because I pray over it almost daily this scripture popped into my mind.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God!
And that is what we are!”
I John 3:1, NIV

It speaks of my identity. More than a wife, a mother, a grandmother, I am a child of God! I live out those other identities through that reality.

It speaks of God’s nature. He lavishes his love! According to the Oxford Language Dictionary: bestowing something in generous or extravagant quantities. Miriam Webster says, bestowing profusely.

God generously and profusely loves me (us) by bestowing his love, by calling me his child.

Earlier this week, Sonja and were talking about our love of flowers. When our husbands show up with bouquets (thank you Valentine’s Day), we care for them. We diligently trim the stems; we give them fresh water; we feed them with those tiny fertilizer packets. And we enjoy them for a time. But their time is short; there are no roots; nothing to keep them nourished and growing; they are not planted.

“Blessed is the man …
his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water
that yields fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.”
Psalm 1:1-3

“The righteous flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD;” Psalm 92:12, 13.

I question. Are these just familiar, encouraging scriptures, or am I putting myself in a place to allow them to transform me? Am I planted?

Do I want my life to look like the short-lived beauty of the flowers or the beauty of the trees.

Paul exhorts in II Thessalonians 3:5, “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” (italics mine)

Direct my heart. What does it look like to allow God to direct my heart to his love — to not just know scriptures in my head, but to truly embrace them?

Knowing is not enough!  Knowing is head knowledge; believing is heart knowledge. 

Trust is the key to moving that knowledge from my head to my heart.

So I pray, God, what would it look like in the midst of the hard realities swirling around me to trust your love, to allow myself to be directed to your love? 

Directed to the steadfastness of Christ. The dictionary challenges as I look up steadfastness — the unwavering love of God.

Often the stories surrounding me feel like a roller-coaster with major highs and lows, not even keel, steadfast, unwavering.

God asks, will you Sue, allow me to direct you to my steadfast, unwavering love even in your roller-coaster reality? 

YES! I have no choice.

My faith cannot be rooted in my ability to understand.
My faith must be rooted in trust.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirst for you;
my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked up you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied …”
Psalm 63:1-5 (italics mine)

The scripture I’m bringing to Bible study is II Thessalonians 3:5.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, February 2025