He Calls You Beloved

This is a truth that I have wrestled with for years. Feelings of insignificance, very aware of my sins and shortcomings, waiting for that person who would make me feel loved and worthy. Turns out I was missing a very vital truth. God is love, and it was that love I was searching for, though I didn't realize it at the time. It was a truth I believed in the broadest sense: God loves the world; therefore, He loves me. It's funny, as someone who grew up hearing and believing John 3:16, it never hit home how much God loves me. He delights in me, simply because I am His. Forgive me, this has hit home recently, and it's taking a moment to verbalize it. His love is not based on my good works; it's what inspires them. He loved me before I ever put my faith in Him. It was His love that drew me to Him, even if I didn't fully realize it at the time. The love and acceptance I spent most of my life looking for was already there-it was there in Him, my God and Savior.

After my husband died, grief broke me. It's a pain that can't be described unless you experience it. It's life-altering. In that place of grief and brokenness, God showed me His love in so many ways. That love drew me, the desire to know Him has only grown, and I now delight in Him. He has whispered so many things to me over the years, but I did not have ears to hear. My own preconceived ideas kept me bound until His truth set me free.

The God of all creation loves you! You can't earn it; you can't lose it; you don't have to try to clean yourself up before turning to Him. He delights in you. He called you by name. He whispers, beckoning you to know Him. He is waiting for His beloved, and that is you. Don't be afraid to fall into Him. He will catch you, and His love will transform you. Don't fear change or the hard things; use them as opportunities to lean into Him and watch what He will do. He will shelter you when the world shatters all around you. He will stay when everyone else leaves. He longs to speak to your soul when everyone else shuts you out. He waits for you, ever so gently calling to you. He sings over you and delights in you. Turn to Him today! Let His love transform you. Pray for the ears to hear and the eyes to see what He is saying to you.

"The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."- Jeremiah 31:3

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16

"We loved because he first loved us." - I John 4:19

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him." - I John 4:9

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine;" - Song of Solomon 6:3

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine." - Isaiah 43:1b

Father God,

Thank you for my dear friend reading this. Please grant them the ears to hear and the eyes to see what you are telling them. You are love itself, and you invite us to live in that love. Draw them ever closer and give them understanding. As it says in Ephesians 3:18-19, may they "have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." May we choose you, now and always. Thank you for your love and for the privilege to know you as we are known.

In the precious name of Jesus,

Amen

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.