As Lovers Do

It is in the quietness that He speaks; a silent whispering in the deepest parts of our soul. This is where we meet Him; this is where He calls us by our name and speaks to us of a love so rich and deep that we cannot even begin to fathom its greatness. It is here that we find out who we are, who He has created us to be. When the noise around us becomes silent and the ambience created around us is nothing less than the Holy Spirit of God filling our presence and our very being with His love. It is here that we begin to know and to understand what we were created for. It is here in this quietness that we begin to know Him. Put aside all of the rituals, all of the religious jargon that has begun to fill your days and come aside and listen, as Christ so often did, to the words that the God of the universe longs to speak to you as a father speaks to the child that he holds in his arms. He longs to whisper to you the things that only you can hear.

Encouragement, love, rebuke at times, but coming with a desire to see you become who He created you to be and to experience life as it once was. Not filled with noise and work and seemingly endless responsibilities that He has not created us for. Instead working, and living, and experiencing life as He created it to be. So often it seems that we get caught up in the doing what we desire to do, what we so often think is even good, and forget what we were created to do and to be. It is only in the quietness, in the stilling of our hearts before Him that we can come back, that He can bring us back, to what He longs for us all to be. Loved and adored by Him. The other day I was talking to one of my roommates as he was getting ready to head out to his class that night and after we had finished talking he headed out to his vehicle and as he was walking to his car his fiancé pulled up and she jumped out of her car and leaped, literally leaped, for joy at seeing him. He went to her and he hugged her and held her close. As I was watching this take place I couldn't help but think about how glad I was for the two of them and the joy that was expressed at seeing the one that she loved. My thoughts then turned to what it would be like for me to experience that in my own life and then the Holy Spirit spoke to me, ever so quietly, and said that it already is like that. Our God rejoices over us with much love. This is what Zephaniah has to say about it, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.” How totally awesome it is to think about the fact that God looks at us that way. What joy that brings to my heart. A seemingly insignificant afternoon, according to what had already taken place on that day, at least in my estimation, had now turned into one of great blessing.

Maybe those of you who are married, engaged or have a significant other can attest to this love easier than I can, but if God's love is anything like the love that I saw that day then I am excited to continue to grow in my relationship with Him and experience more of that love each and every day. There is a song by Isa Couvertier called Pressing Into You and in this song she sings about the for forgiveness, redemption, and the healing of God, and so, because of what God has done in her life she is going to press into Him - to seek Him, to know Him more. I like the picture that gets put into my head when I think about that taking place. She has another song called My Way Is Not Hidden and in it she say that she want to be “loved as lovers should.” That's the way that I want to love God, as His bride waiting one day to become united with Him. I long to see my Lord and Savior more than anything else, but until that day I will not rest in seeking and knowing Him as intimately as lovers do and I encourage you to do the same.

by Justin Kantonen
originally posted May 2008