Love Notes from God

by Lori Altebaumer @Lori_Altebaumer

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  Jeremiah 29:13 NIV

God wants us to pursue Him. He wants us to search for the evidence of His favor in the first light of dawn, in the dew on the grass and the web of the spider, in the taste of an apple, and the smell of honeysuckle on a warm evening breeze. And He promises us when we seek Him with our heart, we will find him.

Because God wants us to seek and pursue Him, He instilled in us the same desire to be sought after, to be pursued. Dare I say, to be romanced?

The desire to be romanced is the desire to be pursued. It is not a weakness, but a God given gift that reveals God’s heart for us. Similar to the pursuit of a boyfriend or husband—and yet so much more. God longs for us to know He is pursuing us—relentlessly.

Jesus told three parables in which God was portrayed as a seeker (in Luke 15). The shepherd determinedly seeking a lost sheep. The woman turning the house upside down in search of a lost coin. And the father of the wayward son, forever watching the horizon for his son’s return home. In each story the seeker was relentless. Something was so valuable to them, it was worth the effort to look. And there was great joy in the finding.

God seeks out what is valuable to Him. Us. And He does it with love notes.

Oh, but he doesn’t use a generic box of pre-made valentines. He created each of us as a one of a kind original and would never use a one-size-fits-all kind of note to express His love.  As unique as we are in so many ways, so too God crafts His love notes tailor-made  for us.

I have twins—a girl and a boy—and the only thing they have in common is they share the same birthday. He loves chocolate cake. She loves plain white cake. I am not going to communicate my love to her by baking her a chocolate cake, nor would I let him know he was loved by baking him a white cake. I speak to each of them in the individual ways I know mean the most to them. And yes, this does mean that we have two birthday cakes every November twenty-ninth—as if we weren’t already stuffed full of Thanksgiving leftovers.

I know someone who says prime parking places are her love notes from God. I like to park a little farther out and walk. God isn’t going to use a parking space for me. I wouldn’t recognize it as a love note. It would be just another vacant spot of asphalt.

For me, a love note from God may be a gentle breeze, soft against my cheek, gently tugging at my hair. It is the tender touch of a lover. A lover who knows me like no other can because He formed me, knitting together my very being in my mother’s womb. I can assure you, my husband could blow air on my face and the feeling it would trigger would not be even close to the same no matter how lovingly he did it.

How about sunsets, tulips, the taste of chocolate, or the sound of a child laughing? The smell of rain, light through a stained-glass window, a phone call from a friend, or just the right song on the radio at just the time we need to hear it?

God is speaking to us.  And when we hear Him, we should turn our faces to Him. Take our focus off the problems of the world and instead look into the face of our greatest love and most powerful hope.

God is calling, “Come to me.” And waits with arms opened wide.

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Love Notes from God – thoughts from @Lori_Altebaumer on @AriseDailyDevo (Click to Tweet)

About the author: Lori Altebaumer is a writer and editor who only half-jokingly tells others she lives with one foot in a parallel universe. She is a wandering soul with a home-keeping heart and a love of words and story. Lori loves sharing the joys of living a Christ-centered life with others through her writing. Now that her nest is empty, Lori enjoys traveling with her husband and visiting her adult children where she can rummage through their refrigerators and food pantries while complaining there’s nothing good to eat here (payback!). She blogs regularly from her website at www.lorialtebaumer.com, and can also be reached on her Facebook page @lorialtebaumerwrites.

Join the conversation: What love note has God given you recently?

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