His Love Never Quits {Guest Post :: Sarah}

Today, I get to share with you, fellow ORU alum, Sarah Bessey. Some of you may already know her as the Emerging Mummy, her personal blog. I know her as Anne-lover, word-weaver, momma-bear, people-passionate, perpetual-artist. Married to her college sweetheart, she and Brian love on each other and their 3 children on the western coast of Canada. Words are her obsession and she shares them monthly at A Deeper Story and SheLoves Magazine. You will also find her featured at Story Bleed, ChurchLeaders.com, Relevant Magazine, Fraser Valley Pulse, 5 Minutes for Parenting, and Mamapedia. The most recent excitement for Sarah is her upcoming book on women and the church. So in between ALL of THAT, she is sharing her heart with us, God's heart for us, on Valentine's Day! Sweet, right? Enjoy!

His Love Never Quits

I have a habit of writing my way into the Psalms. I don't know when I started doing it because I've done it as long as I can remember reading them. I read the words and as I read, I itch to write, to testify, to sing it too. Sometimes it is in those times of despair and longing. And through it all, I come back to this one, adding and rewriting, weaving my own worship in with this. (Hopefully this does not make me a blasphemer or anything serious.) This is based on Psalm 136 because I have learned the truth of it and I will sing it: His love never quits.

Thank God! He deserves your thanks.
His love never quits.

Thank the miracle-working God.
His love never quits.

The God who filled the skies with light,
who created the pine tree that is only visible with the falling of the other trees' leaves,
who created the scarlet of autumn blueberry bushes,
who breathes the chill in the air that wakes the soul,
His love never quits.

The God who created you,
who sees the gorgeousness of a gentle and quiet spirit,
who sees the beauty in what you think are blemishes,
His love never quits.

The God who collects every tear,
The God who sees you there, in your deepest need,
His love never quits.

The God who sings over you with love,
His love never quits.

The God that is as present in your suffering as he is in your rejoicing,
In your cynicism and your hope,
In your pain and in your dancing,
His love never quits, never relents.

When all else have failed,
When everyone else lets you down,
When you are so tired and you want to run away from it all,
When you wonder what He is doing and where He is,
When you question and you doubt, thank God,
His love never quits.

When you stand under his banner of Love and sing with the morning stars,
when tears fall freely while you're gathered with the saints to sing,
when friends gather and hands are laid on you in love,
when your heart could explode at simple beautiful joys,
when you learn that God is in the daily gifts of work and life again and again and again,
when you walk alone under the night sky and pray for those who watch and watch and wait all across the world,
His love never quits.

When he rescued you from the quicksand and set your feet on a solid rock,
When you were faithless and he proved faithful,
When you were proud
When you were a know-it-all
When you did not love as he has loved you,
His love never quit.

In the cacophony of noise and busyness and stress and frustration,
His love never quits.

In the darkness before dawn and the rising of the sun,
in your wonder and your despair,
in your exhaustion and your prayer,
in your yearning and the good things,
in the rising of the sun and the setting down of the same,
His love never quits.

God remembered us when we were down.
Rescued us from the trampling boot.
Takes care of everyone in time of need
Thank God who did it all.
His love never quits.

photo credit 1

photo credit 2

This month I have asked some of my fellow bloggers to join me here at The Little Missionary Girl All Grown Up to share how they have seen the Relentless Love of the Father in their lives in moments of brokenness, heartache, and valley-of-shadow moments.

This post is the 5th in the series of that exploration into the passion of the Father for us

across the miles, across the generations, across the hearts that are His.

To read more of the posts, click here and here.

As we celebrate Valentine's Day, may I share with you a challenge that I heard on the radio today about STAYING in love?

Love as a verb. Love as a verb the way that Jesus modeled for us -- giving His life for us. The speaker went on to challenge us to treat our spouses like we do someone we respect or look up to, like a boss, a celebrity, a pastor, etc. We prefer them in conversations, choices, opinions. We are the kindest, gentlest, most loving version of ourselves.

What if we loved our husbands, our wives that way?

I was challenged.

Today on "the holiday to celebrate love," let's start a revolution to live our lives with the ACTIVE verb of loving, loving like Jesus, preferring those we love the most by honoring them as ones better than ourselves. And well, as Sarah put it...HIS love NEVER quits, right?

May we love like Him today as we realize afresh

JUST how much WE are loved by Him.

Happy Valentine's Day!