Complete in His Unfailing Love

Scripture Reading: Psalm 143

Today's Treasure:

"Let the morning bring word of your unfailing love" (Psalm 143:8).

Have you ever met anyone you truly wanted to love, but he or she was so needy for your affections that you were resistant to respond? Have you ever been the person whose need was so great it overwhelmed the people you sought love from? I think most of us can relate to both.

We are not wrong to think we desperately need to be loved. We do. But we are wrong to think we can make anyone love us the way we need to be loved. Our need does not constitute anyone else's call but God's. Many of us have heard the devastating words, "I just don't love you any more." Others may not have heard the words, but they have felt the feeling. The fear. Throughout life we will lose people who really loved us to death or changing circumstances. As dear and as rich as their love was, it was not unfailing. It moved. It died. It changed. It left wonderful memories...but it left a hole. Only God's love never fails. Even when 1 Corinthians 13:8 says, "Love never fails," it refers to the agape love of God given to us and exercised through us.

Several years ago when my heart desperately needed to be in God's ICU, He helped me picture something I believe all of us do virtually every day. We each have our unmet needs, and we carry them around all day long like an empty cup. In one way or another, we hold out that empty cup to the people in our lives and say, "Can somebody please fill this? Even a tablespoon would help!"

Whether we seek to have our cup filled through approval, affirmation, control, success, or immediate gratification, we are miserable until something is in it. I have come to dearly love and appreciate Psalm 143:8: "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." What a heavy yoke is shattered when we awaken in the morning, bring our hearts, minds and souls and all their "needs" to the Great Soul-ologist, offer Him our empty cups, and ask Him to fill them with Himself!

No one is more pleasurable to be around than a person who has had his or her cup filled by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only One who is never overwhelmed by the depth and length of our need.  Imagine how different our days would be if we had our cups filled in the morning. During the course of the day, anything else anyone is able to offer could just be the overflow of an already full cup. This person will never lack company or affection because she draws daily from the well of unfailing love. This blessed of all believers will know from experience what the apostle Paul meant in Colossians 2:10 (KJV): "Ye are complete in Him."

Heavenly Father, I want to stop begging people to fill my cup and instead ask You to fill my need each morning. Forgive me for putting an unfair burden on my loved ones to complete me. I pray to be patient and gracious to people who overwhelm me with their great need for love. Thank You for your unfailing love. Amen.

Adapted from Praying God's Word, by Beth Moore, pages 90-91. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2000. Used by permission.