How do you know?

This morning I got up thinking about Ishmael… I read a prayer recently that he wrote and it was so sad, because he doesn’t know that God loves him… He said, “Allah we also all, witness you that we love you, wishing that you would love us….”

I thought I would re-post this post from last year on March 20th, the first day of spring. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if today Ishmael could be reassured that God really does love him….

Yesterday began with a little thought about the movie Enchanted… but it dawned on me at first stretch, while still nestled down and cocooned in a pile of patchwork blankets, that I never really finished the sentiment.

Enchanted, well… it is enchanting. What… you don’t agree? The movie IS enchanting on many levels… “Ha”… you exclaim and adamantly state, “enchanting for children and weak females”. No… just wait… give me a moment and hear me out.

Yes, one could say my opinion regarding the movie is largely due to gender, but I would say, as well as stand with other women and make the case that many of the questions posed in the movie do relate to a need for security and comfort, but more than this, the movie does delve into weightier themes such as good versus evil and man’s innate quest for spiritual meaning… searching for love… i.e. God.

Take for instance, Giselle’s song, “How do you know”. She asks the question, “How does she know that you love her”.

Humans have been asking that question since time began. God put an all consuming desire within each of us, a need really, to be loved. We all want to be loved, adored, appreciated and yet in search of love, this sense of comfort and security, we fill the void with a menagerie of temporal trinkets that tantalize for a time and then… Poof, we are left bereft, empty, embarrassed and longing more than ever for the next fix.

To truly comprehend our dilemma, we have to go back to the beginning… we are created to be like God (Genesis 1:27; 5:1). God also has the need to be loved and the Bible, Torah, Injil, Tawrat, whatever you call it, is a collection of love letters from God to man. God the author, initiator and perfecter of love. He loves us and wants us to know that He loves us. God has been trying to get our attention… He loved us so much He made a way for us to come back into relationship with Him (John 3: 16) despite our unholy ways (Genesis 4: 7; Romans 5: 15-16; Hebrews 9: 12-15). He has been showering us with His love since birth but sadly, we have eyes that refuse to see (Romans 1: 19-20).

I am praying today… that you will see God as He is, not the images we conjure up in our hearts to explain our biased ideas of reality, but that you would truly see Him as He is… the Mighty, Righteous, Holy, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Life-giving, Lovely, Grace bestowing God… to see I AM. If we humble ourselves, repent, and call out to Him… He will forgive, heal and wrap us up in Loves perfect cocoon… wrapped in God’s scandalous, merciful grace.

“My dear friends, God loves you, and we know he has chosen you to be his people” (1 Thessalonians 1:4).