First published in Inspire Christian Writer’s Inspire Love Anthology, 2017
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1, NIV)
When I think of God’s love, I can’t help but think of this verse. It became a very important verse that God used in my life in an unexpected way.
I grew up always wishing I could be a daddy’s girl. My sister got that role, and I never really felt close to my father growing up. It may seem silly, but I always felt this empty place in my heart because of that. I’m a practical person. I just decided that would be an empty place that would just always be there. I was an adult, and I could live with that.
One year I went on a retreat, and several people who had been praying for the retreat kept saying God was going to heal me on this retreat. I was hopeful that God would move in my heart that weekend, and since I had a knee injury, I was hoping for healing as well. But God had a better plan. He did heal me, but not in the way I expected.
It was one of the last nights of the retreat, and we were praying. One of the ladies came up behind me and laid her hands on my shoulders and began to pray. As she prayed she started quoting this verse over and over. God used her prayer to break through a wall I had not acknowledged was in my heart for a long time. I began to weep as God flooded me with His love. He literally lavished His love on me in that moment of prayer. As He did, I felt that empty place in my heart fill up with love.
I hadn’t really understood that I still had that childlike desire to be close to my dad. But God knew, and He chose to heal that pain. The only other time, up to that point, that I had felt such love and freedom flood my heart, was when I became a Christian. In that moment at the retreat, His love broke through the walls, the pain, the empty places in my heart and filled them to overflowing with His amazing, healing love.
It’s no mistake that God uses the word “lavished” in this verse. I think of lavished as like a waterfall washing over us, the weight of it nearly knocking us off our feet. In reality, it is even more than that, because not only did God heal my heart that day, He healed my relationship with my dad. Letting go of that desire and the pain that I didn’t even acknowledge was still there allowed me to build a real relationship with my dad. God’s love that He lavished on me flowed through me to others around me.
This is God’s way. He pours out His love on us so that we can pour out His love on others. His love can heal the deepest pain and emptiness in our lives. Pain that we’ve decided we must just live with can be replaced with His love, grace, peace, and joy.
Oh, Father, You have lavished Your love on us so many times. First, when You chose to save us from our sin. Your love overcame everything standing between us. Now, You lavish Your love on us to heal the hurt, the emptiness, the injuries the world and others may have caused. In these, Your love heals and mends and then spills over to reconcile relationships. Because of Your love, we can love and forgive and walk in joy. Father, I want to dance and rejoice in the waterfall of Your love. Let it refresh my soul and open my heart. Let Your love break through any walls I’ve built to protect myself. And please, let Your love break through to others around me. Thank You for loving us so much and for calling me Your child. I am a Daddy’s girl after all. In Jesus’ name, amen.
