Lately, I’ve really been learning about the beauty of how God communicates with us. I often doubted that the Lord continues to speak with us individually, but now I’ve learned that of course He desires connections with us. Another thing I’m really learning is that He is never limited in the way that He communicates. From that, I’ve witnessed God communicate to my squadmates in some unique and amazing ways- from visions to random objects and so much more. As I’ve witnessed it all, I’ve been in awe of the Lord, but there’s also this unfortunate comparison issue that creeps in, too.
Then, I read something that made a new lightbulb awake in my brain.
In Without Rival: Embrace Your Identity and Purpose in an Age of Confusion and Comparison by Lisa Bevere, she talks about how God does not love us equally but uniquely. If we were equally loved, it would mean we were replaceable – and we’re not. God spoke to her and said, “I don’t love my children equally. I love them uniquely.” She quotes St. Augustine- “God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us.”
From this, the wheels in my head started turning and I considered intimate relationships on this earth, too. No two are the same. You learn to be content in your friendships, in your dating relationships, in your marriage- because you know that the other loves you completely and uniquely.
So, though my relationship with my sweet Savior does not look the same as others’ relationship with Him, it is still enough, still unique, still overflowing with love.
When I start to become jealous of the way others communicate with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I pray against that. I have a special communication that is unique to my relationships, and this discontent must be combatted with thankfulness and appreciation for all that I get to experience in my own relationship with Him.
As I’ve drawn in to this realization, I think He’s left little gifts to remind me of how well He knows me. Just yesterday, this was obvious, and the joy that I felt was abundant.
For ministry on Monday, we rode the bus to a different part of Nepal, got off and had the agenda (or no agenda, really) to trek, pray for people along the way, and find a man of peace in the area who would offer us a place to sleep. Honestly, going into this, I was a little apprehensive. However, as God often does, He decided to provide beautifully for us.
Right at the point when were getting tired, a truck offered to carry us about a mile into the city where we planned to stay. As the sun was near setting, we decided to pray for direction. None of us got anything especially specific, but as we were standing in a group, there was a man who many of us were drawn to and seemed especially interested in us.
We went up to him, and Sameer, one of the people a part of the ministry we’re working with who is a Nepali, spoke to him about what we were doing. He took us a little further of the road, with a smile on his face the whole time. We finally ended up on a roof with a beautiful view of the mountains and set up our tents.
Then, we woke up at 5:30 the next morning to set out for where our host said would be an amazing sunrise view.
He wasn’t lying. As we climbed a thousand stairs (apparently, literally) to the area of a monastery, we finally reached the top and stepped out onto a cliff that overlooked the mountains. My breath was taken away. Not only was the sight one of the most gorgeous ones I’ve seen, but then God wanted to make me smile a little more by letting some sweet dogs wander up (they must live around the monastery) for me to pet. In Kathmandu, dogs are EVERYWHERE, but many of them, so sadly, look very sick and keep to themselves mostly. But these dogs were friendly and happy and just wanted some love.
So, as I watched the glorious sunrise surrounded by people I love, sweet pups to pet, with worship music playing, and a camera in hand to capture it all, God was giving gift after gift to remind me of His love and to bring me unspeakable joy.
These are the moments that I remember that He is speaking to me all the time. In whatever way it might be, I pray that He would tune my ears, eyes, and heart to what He wants to communicate. And when He gives me gifts, like He did yesterday, I pray that I will respond in complete and humble thankfulness.
On Monday night, He said, “I want good things for my children,” and as I continue in this journey, I am realizing more and more just how true this is. And not just for me, but thankfully for all of us who are beloved children of God. The Lord is faithful to provide, to lavish love, and to communicate with each of us in unique and beautiful ways.
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”
1 John 3:1-3
