random thoughts for those who ponder God - #2

like the person you tried to serve, love, woo, help, comfort, compliment, and otherwise pursue to no avail. this is the sadness God feels towards those who reject Him. when we love the non-responsive crush or try and serve the ungrateful spouse, or simply attempt to encourage the unruly child or coworker, we often discover that they are more interested in themselves then they are in receiving, noticing and internalizing our pursuit as a gift of love. and in this, the pursuer experiences a piece of the heart of God.

the difference is that when we reach out to love and find ourselves rejected, we are sad because we have lost something: the simple gratitude of the one receiving the gift. but, when God reaches out and we reject Him, He is sad--not because He has lost something--but because we have lost something: the fullness of an eternal relationship with Him.

to experience rejection in whatever relationship then, is an opportunity to humbly break before God and feel His hurt. and if we are willing, in these sad times we can become even more vulnerable and experience the gentle healing of knowing that only God will never reject us...and it has always been He who has comforted us, pursued us, served us, wooed us and loved us.

i am not capable of giving love over and over again without return. only God can love like that, and in that, He is matchless.