A QUICK STORY…And what it taught me about the love of God
Years ago, when my children were small, I used to take them from our home in Southern Nevada into the red rock mountains of Southern Utah for a day of fishing in the peaceful creeks and streams that wind their way through the grassy valleys. It is a four-hour drive. I load them into the car at 5:00 AM and they always sleep until 8:00 AM when we pulled into Cedar City to feast on huge steaming plates of pancakes from Sulli’s Café. Stuffed with enough carbs to hold us until the late afternoon, we head into the hills for a day of fishing. One Saturday, we had pulled into one of our favorite fishing spots along the bank of the creek and all three of my son’s spread out along the edge to try their luck at maneuvering their fishing lines between the rocks, the stray branches and the occasional trout.
About an hour into our morning, I was doing what I always do when I take my boys fishing. I was untangling a huge wad of nylon fishing line tangled at the end of my youngest son’s fishing pole. As I am untangling the line, I hear the sound of tires coming down the gravel road to where we are fishing. I look up and see two men in a pickup truck coming to a stop about fifteen yards away and I silently hope they will walk up the creek a little distance before they drop their lines. Several minutes go by as I am working on the tangles and I do not pay much attention to the people in the truck. Abruptly, I hear the grind of gravel as the truck takes off towards the main road with a burst of speed much quicker than when they arrived. As I look up, I instantly see my middle son is missing. My heart stopped in my chest! Did they take him? I quickly yell to my oldest son to watch his younger brother, as I sprint to our van to chase after the truck. As I throw open the van door I see my son inside looking for a toy on the back seat. It takes several minutes for my heart to stop pounding, for the adrenaline to calm down and for me to stop thinking I am the worst father in the world!
What does this story have to do with understanding God’s love? On the four-hour drive home in the early evening hours as the kids were drifting to sleep, I could sense God silently speaking to me. He used my love for my kids to teach me about His love for me. As I thought about my urgent rush to go after my son, God brought to my mind the trio of parables from Luke 15. The lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. I could clearly relate to the urgency of leaving the 99 in haste to search for the one who was lost, and the incredible joy of finding the coin. I could feel the love of the father running towards his son as he came into view, and the overwhelming urge to throw a party. I had all of those emotions a few hours earlier and I could easily understand how strong they are.
How about you? Have you ever experienced the strength and depth of God’s love for you? I think the intensity of love we have for our own children, family and friends, or the love we may have experienced from our parents can give us a small glimpse of the love our Heavenly Father has for us.
I want to challenge you to think about how much God loves you personally and individually. I had always thought about God loving me as a part of a group. The Bible says, “God so loved the world” and I am a part of the world, so He must be obligated to love me. Kind of like I am a part of a package deal … He loves the world - so I have to be included. But this falls a little flat. If you asked your spouse if he loves you and he responds, “Of course I love you, I love everyone” this would not be very satisfying … but it is how I was thinking of God’s love.
I started to understand God’s love differently on that drive home. When I thought my son was taken away from me, there was no part of me that thought, “Oh well, I have two other sons here and a daughter back home – three children are plenty – this is no big deal.” There was nothing lackadaisical about my thoughts and emotions. I saw clearly that the love I have for my son is intense and individualized. And in that quiet ride towards home, I began to understand the intensity of God’s love for me as an individual.
I challenge you to think about this truth every day this week. Contemplate and meditate on His intense and individual love for you personally! He watches for you, He longs for you, He runs to you, He knows your name. How might it change your life if you truly believed God loved you like that?