I sometimes expect God to communicate through the equivalent of Marvel comic book “Shazams!” and action movie explosions. I expect Him to grab my attention with an airplane toting a banner declaring love in the sky (though these days I’d probably be tempted to see that as a strange form of advertising) or an inexplicable extravagant care package showing up on my front stoop. I don’t always except love letters from God the way He sends them.
But what strikes me again and again is how humble, gentle, and quiet God is about demonstrating love. God rarely—maybe never?—shows off. Rather, God uses people, other human beings, to gently and quietly communicate love again and again and again.
In this week’s podcast, I tell the story of how God prompted our pastor to gather contributions to send to the Native American reservation where one of our church members grew up. This story sounds like an act of kindness on the part of our congregation towards people in need, and there is that. But something else happened too.
First, our pastor learned about a Christian woman living on the reservation who has been feeling isolated and discouraged. She had moved back to the reservation after feeling God’s call to do so, but recent events left her wondering whether she had heard that call correctly, and whether other Christians cared at all about her work and their desperate situation. Then she got a call out of the blue from a pastor at a little country church in western Connecticut. Our pastor called her to say that we wanted to help. In fact, to say that the Holy Spirit had prompted her to reach out.
Our pastor wasn’t just coordinating a relief effort. She was bearing a love letter from God to a woman 3,000 miles away. She was bearing the message that God loves her, that she is not alone.
And then, when our pastor learned what a gift of encouragement this was to the woman on the reservation, guess what? She felt humbled, encouraged, amazed that God would use her to bear this message. This wasn’t only a love letter sent to the reservation. It was also a love letter sent to our pastor. That’s how love works: humbly, gently, and reciprocally.
We all are invited to be messengers like this. We all are invited to receive messages like this. God works in people and through people in order to love people. We are also invited in this time to listen to the gentle, quiet whisper of the Spirit of God. We are invited to be couriers—and recipients—of love letters from God.
P.S. I also received this video of choirs and worship leaders in the United Kingdom singing a blessing over the weekend, and I received it too as a love letter from God. I hope you’ll get a chance to watch it and receive the blessing for yourself and those you love.
EPISODE 108 SHOW NOTES:
In this episode, Amy Julia speaks from Philippians 2 in order to talk about how God uses people to carry “love letters” from Him. She talks about the way God works through people, with reference to Mary and Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-45) and how God is humble, with reference to 1 Corinthians 13.
At the end of the episode, she mentions a recent conversation on “the And” between her friend Ginny and her 15-year old daughter Rachel, who has Down syndrome, as well as a video produced by choirs and worship leaders in the United Kingdom to sing a blessing of peace:
- Conversation on the “the And” between Ginny and Rachel
- UK Choirs and Worship Leaders Perform The Blessing
Amy Julia also mentions her new podcast, Reading Small Talk, which will be available starting Thursday, May 7, in weekly installments, or is available as an audiobook here.
…….
Want to read more? Here are some suggestions:
- AJB Recommends: Talking with Doctors Who Are Christians About COVID-19
- A Mother’s Day Gift: Reading Small Talk Podcast
- How to Receive God’s Love
If you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my Love is Stronger Than Fear podcast and my Reading Small Talk podcast on your favorite podcast platforms.
