“Open my eyes so I may see

what You show me of

Your Miracle-Wonders!”

(Psalm 119:18 MSG)

by Debbie Allen

Valentine’s Day has long been considered a day of celebrating romance and love.  Many of us go to great lengths on this day to assure our love ones they reserve a special place in our hearts. It’s a night for sharing romantic candlelight dinners, and for taking time to gaze, uninterrupted, into each other’s eyes.  Jewelry counters all over town are standing-room-only.  Beautiful, bouquets of flowers and heart-boxes full of exotic chocolates are bought and delivered on doorsteps throughout the day. And don’t forget those Valentine cards we purchase! Those Hallmark cards…beautiful pages bursting with the BIG words of love our own hearts struggle to express on a day-to-day basis. Love is definitely the focus of our hearts on Valentine’s Day but, what happens to it after the candy is eaten, the cards are tucked away, and the flowers have wilted?

All of us know that true love may wilt at times but, we don’t just toss it out or stow it out of sight. Love is to be looked upon as more of a ‘continual feast’ (Proverbs15:15 NCV). A precious gift from our hearts to be given away every day; not out of duty, but out of desire.  Though every day can’t be Valentine’s Day, it’s wise to consider the truth that if love is not nurtured over time; it can slip very quickly from wonderstruck …to ordinary.  Why would any one of us want to settle for ordinary in our relationships when our hearts were designed for wonderstruck?

Well-known, author and speaker, Beth Moore once shared, “I am convinced our hearts aren’t healthy until they have been satisfied by the only completely healthy love that exists:  the Love of God Himself.” (Above All Else p.170 Family Christian Press)

The Bible tells us, “…God is Love” (1 John 4:16a NIV).  The Psalmist, King David, is a stunning example of a life who lived and loved in total awe of his God. He lived wonderstruck at the very thought of God, the Creator of the Universe and everything in it; knowing his name. David marveled at the thought of God writing all the days of his life in His book; planning each day out before a single one of them even began! You can hear the wonder in his voice as David speaks to the God he loves:

“For it was You [God] who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)

“…all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.” (Psalm 139:16b CSB)

“Your eyes saw me when I was formless…” (Psalm 139:16a CSB)

Incredible as it sounds, God allowed David’s heart to grasp the intimate truth of God’s Presence, inside the darkness of his mother’s womb, creating him. Even more wonderful, is that when God looks at David’s embryo…He doesn’t see what the world today so flippantly calls ‘lifeless tissue’. God sees the one He purposely, knit-together in Love and named for a purpose in this life.  God sees David! (V.16a)

When I consider this Hand of Love that knit each one of us together in our own mothers’ womb, my heart can only cry out with David, “This is too much, too wonderful—I can’t take it all in!” (Psalm 139:6 MSG)

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“Our Creator, God, is the very first Heart to express Love to our own hearts in life…even before

the world knows we exist!”

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God’s Love is the absolute purest and truest Love our hearts will ever know. Because of God’s intimate connection to us in the womb from the very moment of conception, I believe that God Himself, our Creator, is also the very first Heart to express Love to our own hearts in life…even before the world knows we exist!  Those Whispers of His Love echo down inside our hearts our whole life long; continually wooing us to:

“Come closer. “Let Me hold you once again.” “For though you’ve changed, My Love has not.”

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching.  As we scurry to buy our cards, order our bouquets, and sit starry-eyed across from the ones we love; let’s not lose sight of the One Who Loves us most, both heart and soul…since the beginning of time itself.  Our Creator…the God Who is Love.  What we choose to do with this Love so Wondrous, as we walk-out our lives on this earth; is our choice.  God’s Love for us never changes…but our own hearts too often fail to ever grasp the Truth of the Wonder of God’s Love, encircling us.

I see His Love poured-out into all of creation. Tangible, visible reminders of God’s Heart; from the outer-most edges of the Universe to the remote earthly paths we walk upon.  I like to think of them as “God’s Conversation Hearts to the world He Loves. As you chew on these Sweet Truths, my Valentine’s Day prayer for us all, is that our hearts come to know, like King David did; what it is to walk inside of the Wonders of God’s Love…all the days of our life. Our world will be a better place the day we all choose to embrace the Love of the One Who first embraced us. Have a Blessed Valentine’s Day!

G0D’S “CONVERSATION HEARTS”:

The Heart Nebula: 7,500 lightyears away from earth there is a glowing, red Nebula on the outer edges of our galaxy.  If the size of this heart is any indication of the size of God’s Love for us (and it is!) …we should be living “wonderstruck” every breath we take!

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is His Faithful Love toward those

who fear Him.”

(Psalms 103:11)

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TINY HEART PEBBLE:

“You will seek Me and

find Me when you seek

Me with all your heart!”

(Psalms 36:7)

On a sliding scale of “Ordinary” to “Wonderstruck,” where does your love for God fall?

“For God so loved the world [Your heart and mine] that He gave His One and only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

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