SCANDALOUS
June 22nd, 2022
LOVE…Never Stops Believing the Best for Others (v.13:7)
1 Corinthians 13:8, 13, ‘Love never stops loving. It extends beyond the gift of prophecy, which eventually fades away. It is more enduring than tongues, which one day will fall silent. Love remains long after words of knowledge are forgotten…Until then, there are three things that remain: faith, hope and love—yet love surpasses them all. So, above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run.’ (TPT)
Love puts up with anything…always looks for the best. Whoa! That’s a hard one, huh?
Do you know that person too who just will not give up or give in, whose very voice causes you to cringe, whose appearance sends you into hiding? You’ve logged countless hours listening to complaints and ‘woe is me’ accounts. You have patiently and considerately sympathized. You have not only long ago given up trying to interject anything concerning yourself and how you might just be doing, but you also have given up offering any input or advice because that person just cannot hear any voice but their own. In fact, you’ve even stopped answering phone calls and started avoiding making plans, and now you even head in an opposite direction if you see that certain person coming your way.
Wonder what it would be like if God did that to me; if I made God feel that way? What would happen if when I began my prayers to God, He threw His hands in the air, let out a loud sigh and began shaking His head. What if He put His hands on His hips and started whispering “Blah blah blah blah!” What if He began thinking of all the other people He’d rather help so He could block out my whining; if He even whispered a prayer to Himself that I’d shut up sooner than later or find something, anything, to be thankful about. Maybe He’d even consider placing a friend in my life that might not be the best influence for me, but who would soak up all my time and attention with bad activities, so He didn’t have to listen anymore. Oh-My-Goodness! What would it be like if He started heading in the opposite direction every time He saw me coming, if He dodged into doorways and hid behind displays so I couldn’t find Him when I needed Him most??!!
No. God would never do that, never ever. Because His love for me puts up with anything. His love never stops believing the best about me, hoping the best for me, pouring the best of Himself into me. God wouldn’t play hide-n-seek with me, nor tune me out, nor not fully listen with His whole heart to the cries of my broken heart. He pursues me instead of running or turning from me. He waits for me all day, every day, to seek Him, and when I do seek Him with my entire being, He will be found by me. He longs for my companionship and yearns for my time, for me to cry out every need to Him so He alone can fulfill what I lack. In fact, He even made a God-shaped, God-sized hole inside of me that can only ever be filled by Him. That’s how bad He wants me, how much He believes that every complaint, every whine, every need, every hole, is only designed to be met by Him. He puts up with anything as long as it means I let Him into my life for good. Beautiful You, God will always, always, look for the best in you and me.
Jeremiah 29:10-13, ‘This is GOD’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on Me, when you come and pray to Me, I will listen. When you come looking for Me, you’ll find Me. Yes, when you get serious about finding Me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” GOD’s Decree.’ (MSG)
So many weddings happen every year during the month of June; so many ‘I do’s’ are spoken that eventually become ‘I don’t’s’, because we understand so little about love, God’s love, and the largeness of it, the all-encompassing circumference of it. What would happen if we too loved like that, and never stopped believing in what good can be for and can come from others, always looked for the best in others?
