Shelly A. Faust

When Loving Is Hard and You Hardly Feel Loved on Valentine’s Day (or Any Other Day), Remember This

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We have forgotten anniversaries, fought on Valentine’s Day, skipped over birthdays, and much more we are not proud of. I mean, if you’ve been married almost twenty-three years and have never slammed a door, gritted your teeth in frustration, or slept on the couch, pretty please with sugar on top tell us your secret.

Over the course of these twenty-three years, our love has grown but growth doesn’t come without some discomfort and pain. We don’t always feel love and we don’t always show love but we have decided to choose love.

Love is sometimes messy and hard and uncomfortable.

Love doesn’t always look like the commercials on TV or the movies on the Hallmark Channel.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says,
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13

Love is decided daily, sometimes moment by moment.  Love is a choice to not give up, sometimes give in, and always give away.

True love is true. It’s honest and dependable and messy.

It isn’t found in a heart-shaped box. It isn’t commercialized and showy or only one day a year. It gives more than flowers and balloons; it gives of itself.

We’ve found that we can love extravagantly in our words and actions and yes, even our inexpensive but thoughtful gifts (or notes on the bathroom mirror). We can love each other well every day.

Do we always succeed? N to the NO. We are two imperfect people trying to get it right who often get it terribly wrong.

Forgiveness and grace are some of the most extravagant gifts we can offer each other as husband and wife. Without them, there would be no “us.”

But in all of our shortcomings we have discovered One who has never and will never let us down.

We have found a love that never ends. A love that always forgives. A love that loves without conditions. A love that never waivers. A perfect love matched by no other. A love that enables and empowers us to love each other and others well.

A love that reaches down into our darkest, messiest, ugliest moments and offers hope.

Maybe you feel unloved today. Maybe you have had more dark and messy and ugly days than you’ve had good days. Maybe you feel alone or hurt or angry or betrayed. Maybe you can’t see hope for the future and aren’t even sure if you want to.

First, can I say I’m so sorry? I don’t know your story. I don’t know the things that have happened to you or the things that have been done to you. But please, don’t stop reading here. I have good news for you. Really, really good news.

Your story isn’t over yet.

There’s another chapter waiting to begin.

It’s time to turn the page.

God loves you. He loves you more than anyone on earth ever could. He loves you no matter what you’ve done in the past or what you did today. He loves you no matter your social status, your education level, the number of times you’ve messed up, or what others think about you. I could go on and on. There is nothing that can keep God from loving you. He IS love. And He wants to lavish His love on you today. Forever and ever and without condition.

All you have to do is say yes. Receive His love. Surrender your heart and life to the One who will never leave you and never stop loving you.

Jesus has made a way for us. He paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross for our sins so that we can walk in relationship with our heavenly Father. He has secured eternity for us if we choose to accept it.

Can we pray together today?

Dear heavenly Father,
Thank you for loving us. Help us to understand Your love and teach us to love others. We surrender our heart and our life to You today, right now. We’ve looked for love in every wrong place. We’ve tried everything and nothing satisfies or fulfills us. Fill us today with Your love and satisfy us like only You can. Thank you for Jesus and all that He has done for us. We believe in our heart and confess with our mouth right now that He is Lord. We also confess our sins to You now and believe that we have forgiveness because of Jesus. Thank you for mercy and grace and love. Thank you for saving us and never leaving us. We love You. In Jesus’ name we pray – Amen.

Scriptures:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” Psalms 36:5-7

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;” Lamentations 3:22-25

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:9-10

“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5

“Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.” Psalms 136:26

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:16-21

That Dirt Road & My Own Great Betrayal

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For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

I stood at the altar during praise and worship on Palm Sunday, overwhelmed in His presence. Eyes closed, hands raised, I joined with my church family in celebration of the King of Kings.

Shouts of praise could be heard from all around the sanctuary.

Sounds of adoration and proclamation filled the room.

“Jesus!”

“The King is here!”

“You are worthy, Lord!”

Just that morning before church I found myself buried in the scriptural account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The people lined the street and shouted in celebration and praise. The scenario now seemed strangely familiar and personal as I imagined that dirt road in the midst of my own celebration.

Suddenly I could hear the thunder of the feet of those running after and alongside Jesus.

The Bible says a great multitude spread out their clothes and placed branches on the road before Him. They cried out in great praise and honored Him as He rode by.

I closed my eyes and could hear them shouting the same words coming from my own mouth this morning.

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel!”

I began to draw a parallel in my mind and my heart was suddenly broken and in great conflict – wanting to praise but knowing what the next week held and remembering times of my own great betrayal.

There would be another crowd just a few days later but their cries would be much different.

I know there is tremendous debate on whether there were any of the same people present in both crowds. It was certainly two very different crowds but I have to wonder, though, if maybe some of those who celebrated Jesus on Sunday were some of the same who condemned Him on Friday?

Could it have been some of the same people who believed in Him but were afraid to stand up for fear of being put out of the synagogue by the Pharisees?

  • for they loved the praise of man more than the praise of God (John 12:43)

These words are written into my own story as I spent many years trying to please people even at the expense of pleasing God. But I rejoice in the freedom found by pursuing relationship with my Savior, to know and to be known by a Holy God.

Or could it have been those who once believed but chose to listen to the voices of opposition? The Pharisees certainly turned the mood that week by speaking falsely against Jesus. I can just imagine the terrible lies they were spreading as their resistance ensued in the following days. Nothing like a little slander and defamation of character to sway public opinion.

The enemy does that to us, too. Doesn’t he?

He twists and turns and lies and manipulates any way he can to keep us from believing God is Who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.

Or maybe it was those who misunderstood Jesus. Their expectation of His being the long-awaited Messiah involved an earthy kingdom. As the days progressed, it became apparent Jesus would not be taking up residence in the palace.

When He didn’t meet or fulfill those expectations, I can imagine there was some confusion and disappointment.

He was not the messiah the people were expecting.

Maybe you’ve been disappointed, too.

Maybe you’ve had some expectations about Jesus that haven’t been met.

Sometimes our loved ones don’t get healed in the way we expect them to be healed.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people.

Sometimes we cry out to God and He is silent.

I don’t know if you’ve been any of these people, but I’ve been all of them. I’ve praised Him on Sunday and denied Him on Friday. I’ve cared more about man’s opinion of me than God’s. I’ve believed lies from the enemy. And I have allowed disappointment and discouragement to set in when God didn’t meet my expectations.

Through all of this, He has never stopped loving me.

He has never stopped loving you.

No matter which group you are in (or have been in), God loves you the same. No matter how many times we have rejected or denied Jesus, He willingly died on the cross for each of us. His love, mercy, grace, salvation, hope, healing, and forgiveness are available to each one of us in the same measure. We just have to accept it.

Jesus died on the cross but the story doesn’t end there.

Three days later the earth shook, the stone was rolled away, and Jesus rose again. He’s alive today and desires a living, real relationship with you. With me.

What He offers is not a bunch of religious activities or a list of rules to follow but a loving, personal, intimate knowing of each other. A daily communing. A moment by moment abiding in His presence.

Don’t miss out by listening only to what others have to say about Him. Find out for yourself who He is.

Easter is a time to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. But we don’t hang up our faith when we put away our Easter clothes. We get to celebrate new life every single day.

I celebrate the new life I found in Him many years ago when I said yes to His gift of salvation.

If you haven’t said yes to this gift and haven’t received Jesus as Savior but you want to – might I encourage you . . . say yes today!

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

And Romans 10:9-10 assures us, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

I would love to pray with you! Please feel free to comment below or send me a private email.

xo

Shelly

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