2: His Love is Reflected

This post is a continuation of yesterday’s, reflecting on the LOVE of our Creator in a time when we often search for love elsewhere. 

What February taught me: God’s love is reflected in His people. 

It was a clear, windy Sunday morning. You could see the mountains perfectly from where we gathered on the plains out east by the airport.

Families and couples slowly made their way into a building that reminded me of my high school. Lockers, posters, a combined gym and cafeteria.

God’s love was tangible on this ordinary, windy day.

One of my dear friends was part of the launch of a new church this month, and this was launch day. Plans and meetings and months and months of dreaming had become suddenly tangible. People were walking in the door. The stage was beautifully set.

This would be the first of many Sundays. The beginning of many relationships. The catalyst for life change. 

My friend took a huge leap of obedience and faith last summer, quitting her job and moving out by the airport (if you live in Denver, you know how out there that is). She and her team planned and prayed, ordered supplies and tried to imagine how God’s dream would come together.

And man, did it come together beautifully. It was a stunning and faith-building thing to witness.

God’s love showed up BIG. And He showed up big through these faithful people.

His people took the time and took the risks. His people rallied around this budding church and prayed for its growth and donated money. His people used their passions to create a space for others to hear good news and sweet grace.

And as I looked around that crowded room and saw hands lift to heaven, I saw God on display. The faithfulness, obedience, big heart and passion of my friend and her team showed me the heart of my Father.

Friends, I believe that God’s love shows itself in His people.

People love is imperfect, but people love was originally designed after God’s love. And it still can’t help but echo. It still can’t help but mirror. It still can’t help but reflect.

“It is easy to acknowledge, but almost impossible to realize for long, that we are mirrors whose brightness, if we are bright, is wholly derived from the sun that shines upon us.” – C.S. Lewis

In this season, I see God’s love in my friends. I see how well these human hearts love me and care for me, and it helps me trust just a little bit more every day that God’s heart is exponentially this way. How sweet that my friends are the glittering, echoing, mirroring factor that hearkens back to the love of my heavenly Father.

In this season, I also see God’s love in the passions and gifts of others. Like on that windy Sunday as my friend greeted new faces and shared her excitement about youth ministry. Like when I watch my dedicated, hardworking roommates grade tests late into the evenings. Like when I see my mom’s handiwork in a homemade gift.

Like when I attended IF: Gathering earlier this month and I heard passionate women share about God’s love from a webcast held across the county. I also saw bright, unmistakable glimpses of the Father in my friends that I shared that conference with.

One day of the conference, my friend came over to me in the dim sanctuary during worship. I had recently confessed some feelings of inadequacy. 

She grabbed my hand and said: “Laura, I hear you saying that you’re afraid you’re not enough. That you’re afraid that friends will leave. So I just want to tell you the truth about how I see you.”

Tears streamed as I read her words to me, typed onto a small phone screen, and she held my hand. She was unafraid and unhindered as she told me how much she loves me and enjoys my company and sees my gifts.

And all at once, my friend’s voice became my Father’s voice, and I believed that I was treasured.

God equipped my friend with the perfect encouragement for my weary heart. And God has equipped each of us for the reflecting of his glory into this world.

As people made in God’s image, we are people wired in His love.

We create, because God created. We care, because God cares. We serve, because God served. 

We love, because He loved first. 

Oh, what evidence of glorious grace, detailed care and intimate relationship. This, friends, is the love of the Father.

It’s big. It’s communal. It’s creative and it comes close. 

Tomorrow: I can’t wait to share some thoughts from a special guest writer.