This morning I heard a song that I’ve heard many times before.

For whatever reason, today the opening lyric decided to reach through the speakers, grab me by my proverbial collar, and say, “HEY!  YOU!  I’M TALKING TO YOU!”

The chick from Addison Road sang this:

“If everything comes down to love, then just what am I afraid of?”

“Everything” rolled around in my mind.  Everything?  As in, everything?  I started thinking about the fact that I believe God orchestrates everything in my life out of His love for me.

Yeah, I believe that.

But when undesirable things happen to me, because of me, or in spite of me, do I believe God’s love is behind even those things?

If the song is right, then I ought to take comfort during the bad times, knowing that God’s love is there.

Moreover, God’s love is the foundation of everything I am experiencing.  The good, the bad, and the in between.  His love is what motivates Him to cause and/or allow each moment of my life to unfold the way it does.

Operating out of that perspective changes things.  If everything comes down to God’s love, then trials are transformed from things to be endured to opportunities to learn more about God’s often mysterious love.

For instance, my two year old broke her collar bone two weeks ago.  She can look at this situation one of two ways.

She can say, “This hurts.  I hate it when my parents pick me up under my arms.  My neck and shoulder ache.  I guess I just have to suck it up and endure the next several weeks of discomfort while my bone heals.  This is probably a trial that God wants me to endure so I can add the “I broke my collar bone and lived to tell about it” badge to my Christian jacket.  He probably just wants me to realize that life isn’t always fun.”

Her second option is to say, “This hurts.  God loves me.  God allowed/made this happen to me because He loves me.  What can I learn about God’s love for me through this event?  How is He wanting to bring me closer to Him right now?”

(I know what you’re thinking, “That two year old is very verbal and more advanced in her walk with Christ than most people 9x her age.”  Let me just clarify that my two year old has had none of these thoughts except the first three sentences.  In fact, she hasn’t even accepted Christ yet.  I know, right?)

Everything comes down to love.  Christ was beaten and crucified because of love.  You and I have been rescued because of love.  And God is working in our lives because of love.

In what aspects of your life are you having trouble seeing His love?  It’s there.  Look for it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDXEvkS0iPA]