Finding the Love you Long For
They are sixteen and madly in love. They call each other and tie up the phone line for hours and talk about the minute details of life. Every Friday and Saturday night they entwine themselves in kisses while the windows slowly cover with fog. Even though their parents have concerns that they are too serious too soon, they are convinced they have found true love. Do you think they have?
She truly believes the emptiness in her heart is about to filled. For years she has longed for a child to call her own, to nurture, to love. Countless doctors and dollars later she and her husband have given up trying to conceive on their own and have flown overseas to a country with too many babies and not enough parents. In just a few seconds the door of the waiting room in the orphanage is going to open and they will see their baby for the first time. Do you think all the emptiness of her heart is gone forever?
It is another night with a bad band and a room full of drunks. He comes most every night, partly because it’s familiar, partly because there’s nothing else to do, and partly because he harbors a dream that one night, the girl of his dreams will walk through the door. He’s a two-time loser in the game of marriage – and he still isn’t sure what went wrong. The band takes a break (mercifully!) and the jukebox blares an old country song by Mickey Gilley about “looking for love in all the wrong places.” Do you think he’s looking in the right place – or the wrong place?
After she cooks herself a simple supper, she washes the dishes and sits in her chair. As she rubs cream on her arthritic knuckles, the television blares the chatter of an inane game show. She wishes a friend would call, but she’s outlived most of them. Her children and grandchildren are scattered across the country and sometimes can’t spare fifteen minutes to call and check on her. Vanna White is flipping the letters to the puzzle: “Love is a Many Splendored Thing.” Once, it was for her, but now, it’s just the shadow of a memory. Do you think her loving days are over?
We look for relationships, for people to bring meaning to our lives, to give us a reason to get up, to give us a reason to care. But the truth is every human relationship will fall short. That’s why the real love we long for can only be found as we grow our love relationship with God. Whatever love you are seeking, start first with God. Only His path will lead you to the love you long for.
