4 Ways to Recognize the Lavish Love of God Part IV

Sometimes you can sense a difficult day at its onset.  An argument, messy kitchen, and a snoozed alarm clock have all foreshadowed a few of my most challenging times. On more than one of those occasions my bad day has been compounded by an extra surge of estrogen.

Although, a necessary component of a woman’s femininity, at times it also dubs as an enemy in disguise.  At least that’s been the case for me.  I am sensitive by nature.  It generally doesn’t take much for the water works to get revved up in my tear glands.

Thus, adding a hormone laced cocktail to the mix has proven to be a toxic combination.  Reality is blurred as sadness latches on to me like a parasite: sucking out truth to my detriment.  I am rendered a weaker version of myself: unable to muster up the inner fortitude needed to combat my own thoughts.  

Soon I succumb to the temptation to embrace false beliefs as truth. Thoughts like I’m not valued, appreciated or loved wreak havoc.  Without objection, I willingly opened the door, give them the keys, and provided unlimited access to my mind.  

When I find myself in this place there are very few influences powerful enough to pull me from the quicksand like grip of my bad thinking. Encouragement from friends is ineffective;  devotionals seem unrelatable, and messages are like tiny drops in the big bucket of my outlook on life.  The only thing consistently strong enough to alter my thinking has been a revelation of God’s sacrificial love for me.

#4 His Sacrifice

In fact, in times when I have been at my lowest point, I have often closed my eyes and visualized the life and death of Christ.  His existence on the earth is the ultimate reminder of God’s lavish love for humanity.  Why else would anyone humbly endure humiliation, rejection, betrayal and unbearable pain, unless driven by a supernatural love?

This love remains unmatched.  To date, no one has suffered as He did on our behalf and no one ever will.  His sacrifice is a one of a kind tailor-made demonstration of the extravagant love of God.  It is isolated and housed in a category all its own.  

When we feel unloved we simply need to open our Bibles and read the words of Isaiah 53: 5 ( NIV) that say,

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

Before we were immersed in our sin or contemplating it, Christ was pierced and crushed for our sake.  His sacrifice afforded us an uneven exchange; He took our punishment while we got peace.  And although God the Father could have intervened and opted not to go through with this master plan of redemption, He did not.

I am convinced it is because He knew one day you and I would be in desperate need of this lavish display of love.  He knew we would have no other hope.  And so He carried out what we now summarize in John 3: 16 (NIV).  This is the greatest gift we will ever receive, should we choose to accept it.  

Pitted against the love of man the love of God will always be greater.  No love comes close to it: shattering the coldest of hearts, mending the most broken souls, and lifting mankind out of the depths of despair.  If you happen to find yourself in a slump today: feeling not valued, unappreciated, and unloved, know that God’s lavish love is available for you and it will forever be evident in the sacrificial love of Christ.