Now, I'm one of the first to hear you if you're thinking "that's great, but God's love isn't the same as having somebody with you in your home, able to hug you." You are correct. It's better! His love is never going to fail.
My favorite part of this song is usually the first verse about sunrises being a love story. Sunrises are so exquisite, although I am more likely to see a sunset than a sunrise, but hey...basically the same. That imagery speaks to my photographer's side. Second, I love that I don't have a very different story. I, like many, could have had a very different story but fortunately, I have a story that includes being loved and saved.
In my quest to understand what it looks like for me to love God, this song also helps as I can see that worshipping Him is an act of love. So those are my usual moments that resonate. Today, however, while adjusting to this new, mostly alone routine, I was struck by the following lyrics:
Mountains, You're breaking down the weight of all my mountains
Even when it feels like I'm surrounded
You never leave my side...
Today, I was feeling surrounded by mountains - with huge rocks tumbling down the sides, beginning to bury me as I stood paralyzed staring up at the enormity of them. Today was a day when confinement turned darker. Gone is the sunshine and warmth. Gone is the schedule. Gone is my commitment to any of my positive habits or projects. I was done giving, I was done receiving. I allowed the first tears of selfish emptiness to slide down my cheeks. I started a dozen texts or emails to friends but deleted each one without sending them.
I then felt a nudge to return to writing. I always wanted more time to write - be careful what you wish for, right! I've had several people tell me they wanted me to write more but I doubted myself and assumed cabin fever has hit them also! :-)
I pulled up this song and those lyrics reminded me once again that God will NEVER, hear me, NEVER leave my side, or yours. He is the only one who can love me the way I need to be loved, the way we all need to be loved. It was time to get over my situation and spend some time in awe of God's love and worship Him.
It also brought me to Matthew 17:20.
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
I have spent a great amount of time struggling through what God's love looks like, or feels like, lately. You can ask any of my friends, current ministers, past ministers, Christian leaders, etc. as they keep getting emails and texts from me asking them to explain this to me. I simply could not grasp what it meant to be loved by God. I was hung up on my need to "feel" God's love and what I wanted love to look like. If that sounds like you, you can read more about that in a blog I wrote last month: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
Chris Tomlin - Nobody Loves Me Like You
You can find the lyrics here.
One More Thing...
I had been fine but the emotions caught up with me today. If it hasn't hit you, it might and I hope you'll come back to this song. How are you doing...really? When you let your guard down and take a break from loving neighbors and friends...How. Are. YOU. Doing?
Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or listen if you have a need or request. You can reach out to me privately at loislynnflores@gmail.com or comment on this post.
Lois Lynn
