More Than


 

God rejoices over you with singing. The Lord your God is with you, the mighty warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
1 John 3:16a
 

Years ago I played a game with my oldest grandson, Joey. The game was “I love you more than….” And we filled in the blank, each time upping the prize a little until Joey would say his current favorite thing, soccer, the Pooh movie, French toast or whatever he dearly loved at the moment and I would say, “You win!”

          This morning I was reminded of that game while in prayer.  I felt the deep love of my Savior and I thought, no matter how much I love God; he will always love me more. More. More than…..

          The last couple of months have been rather difficult as I have faced some hard truths and deep disappointments. Just yesterday I was given some news that has the potential to bring another less than happy change to my life. I’m doing my best to stay faithful and not let fear in, not give the enemy a foothold and that takes prayer. While praying to God for a wait and see positivity, I felt him telling me to love him more.

          That’s when the game I’ve played with Joey for years came to mind. If I am living as faithfully and responsively as I should, then in all sincerity I should be able to say I love God more than ________  and fill in that blank with anything  and everything.

          Sitting quietly for a moment I realized that is what this whole uncomfortable season is about, putting God first. I think that I do that, but then I realize that far too often I do not. My own comfort, my wants and preferences take precedence over what is truly the best part of my life, my relationship with my Savior.

          Play the game with God. List for yourself the things that God can say after “I love you more than….” Then make your own list. “Lord, I love you more than….”  Be honest, it’s just God and you. Then look at the places where maybe there needs to be a little change.

          This is a game you will always lose.  The good news is that loss is the best win you will ever experience.  God loves us more than we can ever imagine.  Even as we struggle with the things we don’t want to relinquish to God’s control, he loves us more than. More and more and more.

           

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