June 18

“I can well understand how Paul could say so confidently that he counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ (Phil. 3:8).  When once the soul has come to this knowledge, all fear and doubt, and even perplexity are at an end, and perfect peace must of necessity reign undisturbed.  No one can possibly have come to know Christ as He really is without entering into absolute rest.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough, 6/18

I broke from my usual routine of going to the grocery store while my son was at his guitar lesson and went to the craft shop to look for artificial lemons.  What I found instead was a better understanding of what love is.  As I walked through the store I met up with a little girl who had been in my Sunday School class and who I had not seen for three years.   I had grown to love her in the two years she was in my class.  When she recognized me her eyes lit up. Her mother and I chatted a few moments and then I was on my way.  This morning as I thought about this chance encounter I realized God was showing me something about love that I had not understood before.  He used this little 9-year-old girl to show me that the love I saw in her eyes was a reflection of the love I had for her.  Because I had loved her so much she couldn’t help but love me back.  What I then realized was if you do not experience love in your heart you will never feel loved.  This is the love you have for others that God places there when your heart is filled with God Himself.  This is that absolute rest that Hannah speaks of.

“We love, because he first loved  us.” 1 John 4:19