Love – Page 3 – The Shepherd's Daughter

Category: Love

Old Silver

Posted on September 1, 2012June 17, 2015 by Shelley

News of a young couple’s engagement or wedding usually puts me in a melancholy mood. It’s not that I don’t share their excitement. I do. It’s just that the newness of their relationship makes mine feel so…old. I look back longingly at those early days when all we could see were the stars in each other’s eyes and a future stretching as far as those shining eyes could see.

So when I came across the following quote, it really spoke to me. I share it not to in any way diminish the glory of young love. But this is for those who have logged some marriage miles. Those whose wedding pictures are yellowing with age. Those whose kids laugh at their bridal fashions and hairstyles that are suspended in time. If this describes you, then perhaps we could both use a reminder that what we posses has a timeless value and a beauty that is actually enhanced with age.

New love compared to old love is somewhat akin to the comparison of new silver with old silver. Certainly the former possesses a dazzling brilliance. But the latter’s tarnish defines the elegance and artistry of its design. The marks of old silver’s age speak to the history of its service, its significance and its value. Old silver embodies a rich storehouse of memories that gives it a luster which an immature piece of new silver, for all its inherent value and shiny surface, has not yet attained.” (Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse)

Today Chris and I celebrate 22 years of marriage. Like a fork and a knife, I am thankful for our history of service together. Over two decades of use may have left us a bit tarnished, but that has only deepened and more clearly defined the intricate details of God’s design. Our storehouse of memories is filling, with room left for the ones still to be made. And so I say…

Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand who saith, ‘A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!'” (Robert Browning)

Happy Anniversary to my old love!

Place of Rest

Posted on March 28, 2012August 29, 2013 by Shelley

My cell phone vibrated on the table next to me, and the screen lit up with the name of a dear friend and fellow believer. I opened the phone (yes, I am still stuck in the Technological Dark Ages) to quickly scan her text:

I have a favor to ask. Would you state the 1st thoughts that come to mind for each of the following? *Definition of rest. *List some reasons why resting may be difficult.

She was working on a Bible study and was w-rest-ling with the topic of “Rest.” So she decided to employ one of her “lifelines” and phone a friend. Unfortunately I was in the middle of something when the text came through. I made a mental note to get back to her as soon as I had a free moment, then snapped my phone shut. (Good thing a million dollars wasn’t at stake or I might be minus one friend.)

Several days (this may be a conservative estimate) later, I remembered The Text. The one I had neglected to answer. The one I had also inadvertently deleted. (I may be minus one friend after all.)

Perhaps I could still respond. If I could only recall the question. It was something about “rest.” Oh yes. How would I define rest and why is it difficult to rest?

Here is the first thought that came to mind:

Rest is knowing you are loved.

One way I have learned to distinguish the voice of God from my own thoughts is that His voice usually startles me with its clarity and conciseness. It’s typically something that I wouldn’t have come up with on my own. Like that definition of “rest,” for example. I also know that He will never contradict what He has already communicated in Scripture, so I went there next.

“May the LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” (Ruth 1:9)

This was Naomi’s prayer for her two recently widowed daughters-in-law. She equated rest with the safety and security found in the marriage relationship. Because life without a husband in that culture and time would have been anything BUT restful.

One of the sweetest things Chris said to me early in our dating relationship was that he just wanted me to feel “secure.” I loved the way I could relax in his presence. I didn’t have to perform to impress him. I felt completely accepted and unconditionally loved. In his love, and in the marriage commitment that followed, I could (insert big sigh of relief here) REST.

The good news is that regardless of whether we are currently married, never married, or newly single, we have a God who desires to be that loving husband to us. He spells out His intentions clearly in Isaiah 54:5:

“For your Maker is your husband–the LORD Almighty is his name–the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.”

I just want you to feel secure.

Like a groom on his wedding day, He vows His love and commitment to His bride a few verses later:

” ‘Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the LORD, who has compassion on you.” (Isaiah 54:10)

I love you with an unfailing, unshakable love.

When we know we are perfectly and unconditionally loved we can “cease striving, and know that (He) is God.” (Psalm 46:10) We don’t have to perform to earn His love and favor. We can relax in His presence. It’s like sinking into the comfort of a warm bubble bath. Ahhhhhh.

Rest is knowing you are loved.

I feel compelled to ask in closing: Have you found this place of rest? Have you entered into a covenant relationship with the One who pursues you with an unstoppable love? Jesus proved that love by offering His life in exchange for yours. All you have to do is respond with a heartfelt “I do.” (And would you please let me know if “you did”?)

No one will ever love you like He does. You can rest in that fact.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a text message to send.

Perfect Love

Posted on February 5, 2012June 28, 2013 by Shelley

I’m a Bible nerd. I mean, who spends their two free hours while their daughter is at a birthday party looking up the meanings of words from a Bible passage in the original Greek? Who reads and compares said Bible passage in a dozen different versions, when they could be out shopping, or better yet, napping? Who blogs while the Super Bowl is on in the other room?

This girl.

The Word of God has always fascinated me. Studying it feels like panning for gold. Only it’s ALL gold. It’s just a question of how large the nuggets will be today.

I was mining the depths of 1 John 4:17-18 yesterday and thought I’d share a few of my finds. The New American Standard Version reads like this:

“By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment… There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”

I’ve been battling fear on a number of different fronts lately. One of the fears I’ve had to face involves needles. I get all clammy just typing the word. To say I’m “needle-phobic” would be an understatement. So when I look up the word “fear” and see the Greek word phobos, I am reassured that God is not at all surprised by my fears and phobias.

His desire, though, is to “cast out” these fears. To cast means “to throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls.” Vincent’s Word Studies describes it as “turn(ing) out of doors.” This reminded me of recent nights when worry would gain entrance to my mind and needed a firm escort to the door.

There is also an element of “judgment” in our fears. Because I am in Christ, I do have confidence in my standing before a Holy God and no longer fear His judgment. The kind of judgment I still battle, however, is my self-condemnation and blame when I come face to face with my own imperfections and failures. The kind of confidence I lack is in dealing with the trials and struggles of the here-and-now.

So again, there is much relief when I notice that the Greek word for “judgment” is krisis, from which our very own word “crisis” is derived. The confidence God gives is big enough to cover not just the life to come, but the day-to-day challenges of this life as well. We can have a holy boldness when we encounter the inevitable crises on this side of heaven. “He whose sins are pardoned, and whose heart is filled with the love of God, has nothing to dread in this world or the world to come.” (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, italics mine)

The hinge that our confidence and courage turn upon is this thing called “perfect love.” The Greek word used here for “love” is agape, which refers to God’s unconditional, supernatural love, as opposed to the conditional, more fickle human variety. It’s His love that shows our fears the door. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

We know God is perfect and therefore it follows that His love would be perfect. The Greek word for “perfect” is teleioo, which means “accomplished, finished, fulfilled.” This made me think of Jesus’ final words as He hung on the cross: “It is finished!” (John 19:30) And this is where it gets good. I checked, and sure enough, the Greek word for “finished” in John 19:30 is teleo! Eureka!

“Finished” can also be translated “paid.” When Jesus cried, “It is finished!” He was essentially saying, “It is paid in full!” The work was done. The debt was paid. He had led a perfect life, which qualified Him to offer Himself and take the punishment we deserved, in one perfect act of love.

This then is the “perfect love” that casts out our fears, that gives us confidence both in this life and the next. Jesus died to purchase our freedom. He rose to conquer our fears. He lives to give us courage to face any crisis. We can rest in His finished work, secure in His proven love.

And that knowledge is worth its weight in gold.