The Greatest Love

I'm reading a book right now called the Sacred Romance by John Eldredge. He shares a few excerpts I was really touched by. Like this analogy to help describe God's love for us (from a book called Disappointment with God):

Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden. The king was like no other king. Every statesmen trembled before his power. No one dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all opponents. And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden. How could he declare his love for her? In an odd sort of way, his kingliness tied his hands. If he brought her to the palace and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist - no one dared resist him. But would she love him??

She would say she loved him of course, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind? Would she be happy at his side? How could he know? If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners, that too would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross the gulf between them. 

Eldredge, then goes on to say - The king clothes himself as a beggar and renounces his throne in order to win her hand. The Incarnation, the life and the death of Jesus, answers once and for all the question, "What is God's heart toward me?" This is why Paul says in Romans 5, "Look here, at the Cross. Here is the demonstration of God's heart. At the point of our deepest betrayal, when we had run our farthest away from him and gotten so lost in the woods we could never find our way home, God came and died to rescue us." 


He loves us very much. : ) I believe he made so much of this world just to delight us. Flowers and sunsets and rainbows and shooting stars and little babies and on and on and on. His sunsets are like embraces to my heart and soul. I once saw a huge field at night filled with sparkling fireflies and it was more beautiful than any special effect I've ever seen.


And yes there are more things in this world that aren't beautiful, that hurt, that bring tears, that break our hearts. But we can't focus on those and let them harden our hearts and steal the joy of the love God has for us. We can't let them blind us to the beauty that is around us at all times and in all circumstances.  


He knows the pain we carry, has sympathy for the heartache we face. And he eases the burden so greatly when we will just walk beside Him.