Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Need — An Expression of Love

Photo Credit: Flickr - Mike's Birds

"Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" - Matthew 6:26 (NJKV)

If someone tells you, "I need you more than I love you," how would you feel? In human to human relationship, stones of judgment are surely be thrown at you. But you see, in God to human (or vice versa) relationship, it's the other way around. God deems and considers this statement differently.

One morning, while meditating on the Scripture I read, I heard my inner self told God, "I need you more than I love you." Immediately, I felt remorse. Guilt engulfed my flesh. How dare me say that to my God? As my flesh started to take pleasure on shame, I felt a big splash of cold water poured inside of me. My soul awakened. I felt God get ahold of that guilt in my heart, and flung it away. I sensed that He's not happy of the guilt feeling that tried to devour me. He spoke to my heart. I heard God say that I cannot outlove His love. He reassured me that He never mind me saying what I just said. He followed it up by telling me that my need of Him is a deep expression of my love for Him.

True enough. No one, even the most pious, devoted believer can outlove God's love for His children. Our love for God will never be deeper than the depth of His love for us.

God is the source of everything we need, physical and spiritual. When we tell Him we need Him, we are declaring dependence on His goodness and grace; an act of humility. Each time we grab the supply of our needs from His gracious hands, He doesn't think of us as selfish, greedy, self-seeking individual. Rather, He delights when we choose to regard Him as the supplier of our needs. Our need of the Father makes His heart smile. That's what He is,  God our Provider, our Jehovah Jireh. God enjoys providing for us. It's His nature. He is generous and kind. King David describes God in Psalm 103:4 as the God who crowns His children with loving kindness and tender mercies.

However, no matter how good God is, He cannot exercise His gracious nature if we don't ask. When His children opt to bypass His provisions, we're telling Him that we can do it on our own effort and strength. Not asking Him to provide our needs hurts the Father. Forcing our way out of dependence from His divine supply is totally contemptuous and insulting.

May we fully take advantage of everything that our Father has set on the table before us. As for me, I say, "I need Him because I love Him." Doesn't matter if my need of Him is more than my love for Him. He knows it, and that doesn't change a bit of His love for me. More so, He delights in my dependence.


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