"Lost Love"

  They were deeply in love. When they were together, they would whisper to one another, pouring out their hearts of love. They soon would be parted as they would leave to go to their homes but while they were together, it was pure delight. They made a commitment to one another as the departure happened. Each day they talked, wrapping the depth of their souls around each other. Their first thought in the morning was he/she was in the world with them. When something funny would happen, they couldn't wait to tell the other and hear them laugh. When something serious would happen, they just wanted to share that experience as they knew the other would feel what they feel. Simply put, they shared everything together!

  Slowly as time went by, something happened. One noticed the other wasn't as open. Things that were once stirring to one was now just another story. The question was asked, "Are you okay?" The response, "Yes, why do you ask?" The conversation continued and the one who had drifted some assured that they were fine and the relationship was fine. The change came with an increasing speed. The fear gripped the heart of the one knowing something was happening. How can they smile, rejoice, laugh and spend time without them? The thought of the other not being there was something not entertained in the mind. There was pain now in the relationship that once beamed with love, joy and awaiting that time to spend together. Will he/she get over it? Has the heart and soul been shredded? Is there a brokenness within?

  We identify with such, don't we? And yet when we look at God, whose love is infinitely purer and deeper than any love we could ever dream of or experience, does He feel that way over us? Does He carry a heartache beyond words when those whom He created drift away? Isn't God the ultimate sufferer when He knows that we think we are better off when we find someone else to attach ourselves to? Didn't Jesus express that when He stood overlooking Jerusalem and states: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling." (Matt. 23:37) Jesus grieves at their pending doom. Our attention turns to a Savior alone on a hill, each breath a little more difficult, eyes filled with tears as He looks across the faces of those and crying out for their forgiveness. Isn't that an image of God's heart breaking? Isn't that someone deeply in love?