Unconditional Love

For as the heaven is high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
 As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
 Like as a father pitieth his children,
so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
 For he knoweth our frame;
he remembereth that we are dust.

Psalm 103:11-14

Unconditional love. It's that idea that holds everyone's interest with a firm grip.

We want it to be real.

We want to experience it for ourselves.


Everyone searches for it. Some look in the wrong place, get hurt, and then become cynical.
Their bitterness makes others' search even more desperate.
Some claim to find it.
Others wait, watching to see if their experience is genuine.
Some say they don't care, don't need it.
Everyone wonders. 

Does real, unconditional love exist? 

If it does, how do you get it?

That's the thing; as humans, we are so motivated by getting, receiving, and taking for ourselves.

Maybe love isn't that way. Maybe unconditional love isn't only experienced by reception. Maybe one must also give in order for the experience to be complete.


I'm just throwing out thoughts. If you want to read a nicely composed blog post, you'll have to look elsewhere.

I know I'm not the only person out there who wants to be understood, and loved unreservedly for who I am. I know I'm not the only one who has pushed the limits and rebelled, just to see if the love was real.
We're all looking for something good that doesn't change. Something that is too good to be true.
We all secretly want it to be real, but more and more people are giving up the search.

Following the same life patterns, cycles of abuse, examples of parents...we're just going in circles, repeating the human mistakes of the past thousands of years. Looking for something in all the wrong places. Giving up, undiscerning that the answer is right before our eyes.

Personally, I have never been comfortable being myself. Though I come across as independent, and sometimes careless of others' feelings, I'm actually an incredibly sensitive person, naturally trained to stay in tune with the people around me. I have molded myself to be what other people think I should be, to say what they think I should say, to act the way they think I should act. I'm always changing my mind because I'm unconsciously picking up on vibes that someone (somewhere) does not or will not approve of what I'm about to do. I hardly know who I am as an individual.

What's the point of all that people-pleasing?

The aim is to be truly loved, and to feel accepted.


I learned to think that who I naturally am is unacceptable; and now I don't know who that is anymore.

It's a weird sensation to be alone with yourself and nervous because you don't know who you are.

Did God create me to be my own person, or to merely do what makes other people happy?


So I've been wrestling with these thoughts. I've never been able to connect with God emotionally. Devotions have been difficult; I've never really enjoyed spending time with God because I'm sure I'm always doing something to displease Him.

I always thought I must experience real, unconditional love from another person before I can ever begin to understand or accept God's love.
I kind of know that that's backwards, but I've been frustrated because I wasn't sure how God can demonstrate unconditional love except through another person.


Limit God? Me?

Hardly.

I woke up last night and went down the steps of my hut. As I glanced up at the sky, I gasped and stared. There was a constellation that I recognized! Orion was hanging right above me, so bright that everything around me faded into insignificance.

And God said,

You know, Raquel, I created those stars for you. 

What? That's crazy. 

Just look at them.  They never change, do they? No matter what you do on Earth, the stars are always there.  

Yea. They've always been there. No reason for them to change.
 
My love is like that. 
 
It's that simple? 

It's true. When I sin, the stars don't fall out of the sky. The sun doesn't stop coming up. The grass doesn't wither away. The birds don't stop singing.

So why should I suppose that God's love stops when I make mistakes?

I shouldn't, because it doesn't.   

His love is
everlasting,
unconditional,
unreserved,
unlimited,
unqualified,
wholehearted,
entire,
full,
absolute,
unquestioning,
unmitigated,
unequivocal.
 

 It's not too good to be true. It is true. Even if you or I never experience unconditional love from another person on earth, we can experience true love from it's Source. Then we can be agents of change, and share that love with everyone else. No matter if they meet our expectations. No matter if they fail us. No matter if they hurt us. Because that's what we've done to God, and He still loves us.

That's one good thing that's never going to change. You can rest your soul in that truth.








God loves you, and He'll prove it it you in a way that you personally understand, if you are really seeking to understand it with all you've got.

I'm going all out to know Who God is, so I can make Him known to at least one other person in my life.
I'm a seeker, and I think I'm on to something really good.
Some One really good.

Come with? Let's seek God together.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8,9