This "Mad" Love
Driving to church today, I asked God to show me something; to teach me something that I needed to know. I admit, there wasn’t much faith behind that prayer, but there must have been a mustard seed’s (Lk. 17:6) worth!
I always love the worship music at church. There is a joy and an “aliveness” to it that always awakens my heart, and reminds me of my purpose in life. But I don’t really expect God to speak to me through the music. If that happens at all. I more likely expect it to come through the message. But today was different!
The third song today was “Good Grace” by Hillsong. There was a line in it that caught my heart instantly. The line said, “God is madly in love with you.” That doesn’t sound like anything earth shattering, but oh my, it certainly is! You see, if you are a Christian, you know John 3:16 forwards and backwards. “For God so loved the world…” Yeah, yeah, yeah… Heard it a thousand times…
While it's true that God so loved the world, AND that God so loved you and me, the truth of that reality is that that truth of that reality often is lost in the commonness of that truth. And that, my friend, is a shame. We have grown so familiar with the truth, that the truth no longer impacts us like it should. Our hearts have grown dull to the vastness of that statement; and to the passion behind it.
But this line in this song was different! It didn’t say that God loves you or me. It said that God is “MADLY” in love with us!!! And that is HUGE!!! That is what is so often overlooked by those of us who have been in the faith for some time. We fail to understand the intensity and forcefulness of His love toward us! We may sometimes miss the depths of God because we may choose to live in the shallows of life.
We have grown so familiar with the fact that God loves us that to say that God loves “me” has very little impact. Yes, very little. But this line was that He MADLY loves us - that He INTENSELY loves us - that He POWERFULLY loves us - that He WILDLY loves us with a FURIOUS, PASSIONATE, AGGRESSIVE, ACTIVE devotion and affection!!! He is MADLY in love with YOU! And, yes, even ME!
Now, that communicates!
That line interrupted my worship for the rest of the song (and even some of the message, I admit) as my heart could not stop probing the depths of the meaning of this long known, and often overlooked truth. To see the Father “madly” loving me was to see Him really, really, loving “ME!” This one word brought a new understanding and a new light to a very common, oh so familiar, truth. I suggest to you that the very idea behind “God so loved the world” is that God so MADLY loved the world that He gave up His only Son! Only a MAD love would do such a thing! Not mad, as in crazy, but mad as in intense! That is how MADLY He loves you!
Later, as I reflected on this line of the song, and this word, “madly,” I saw further implications that I will continue to reflect upon. That our Heavenly Father loves us “madly,” means that His love overcomes all of the barriers that we throw up before Him as defenses and excuses for why we are not living more for His glory. This “Mad” love, once experienced and invited into our lives (and surrendered to on a daily basis), is far more powerful than any false belief, practice, or habit that interferes with my relationship with my Father. This “Mad” love is more powerful than the strongest desires in my life, or yearnings in my heart, or your life, or your heart. It is more powerful than the desire to promote ourselves and our glory, above the Father and His glory. This MAD love, once accepted and welcomed, is stronger than any sin we may seek after because, once experienced, we have indeed tasted and seen (Ps. 34:8) that the Lord is good - meaning not only that He is good, but that He is BETTER, and that His MAD love satisfies our longings. It is BETTER than any sin! BETTER than any false love! BETTER than any addiction! BETTER than self promotion! BETTER than anything this world has to offer! BETTER than life itself, according to the Psalmist (Ps. 63:3 - “Your love is better than life”).
The old country song says, “looking for love in all the wrong places.” Oftentimes, we Christians “look for life” in all the wrong places. For us, real LIFE comes as we experience His MAD love for us, and then, like a Facebook ad, we retarget that wild, furious, powerful, intense love onto someone else. That is where we find LIFE, because that is real love, and real love always looks outward. But it starts with pausing, in this crazy, mixed up, confused, upside down, temporary, sinful world, and realizing that the great and awesome God of the Heavens is MADLY in love with you!
2-13-22