When Your Cup Is Feeling Empty on the Lover's Holiday

Eggs, our tabby cat, jumped on my bed and chirped at me before 8am this morning. As she pranced around my frame, she chattered-on, like an annoying alarm clock, till I finally stirred. Coffee in hand, I stumbled to the living room and sat on the floor across from Don's chair. Enthralled with his morning Bible study, he eagerly shared.

It was easy to listen since he's been parked in one of my favorite passages this week. It begins like this:

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, in whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Ephesians 3: 14 - 17).

I just caught a typo.

I accidentally wrote, "So that Christ may SWELL in your hearts through faith."

While it's not the correct verbiage, I love the image of Christ's love swelling up in us, like an ocean wave that catches you off guard or a rush of water that lifts you high.

Movement. Flow. Life-giving current.

That's the love of God, rushing toward you.

As much as the thought stirs me, I know it's not easy to grasp. For I'm not talking about a feel-good type of love. I'm talking about a love that requires us to be strengthened with power through his spirit in our inner being!

It doesn't just happen. You don't just "fall" into it. You cultivate it. You fight for it. You believe it's real on the worst of days. And perhaps even more so on the Valentine's Day you don't get red roses or a box of chocolate.

For the apostle Paul's prayer continued, "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3: 17 - 19).

Do you get it? We need power from on high to merely grasp the depth, width, height, and length of the Love of God.

That love surpasses knowledge.

And when we know it, we can be filled with the fullness of God.

"The fullness of God?" you ask. "Really?"

I hear you. I can't wrap my brain around it either.

But think about this, if knowing his love allows us to be filled with the fullness of God, then no wonder it's so hard to really grasp divine love on this side of eternity.

Again, we have to fight to know it. We have to believe with everything in us that love indeed conquers death.

Some of you are really sick. Or grieving. Or in serious financial need. Others are surrounded by family and have a stash of chocolate in wait.

Either way, this is your day, simply because we pray, "to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work with us..." (Ephesians 3: 20).

Don't take that lightly. Bank on it. Say it over and over. So when that moment comes - the one where someone says something hurtful that makes you want to sink into your skin and doubt your self worth - the truth is deep in your psyche and pulls you from the lie.

He wants us to know His love. He wants us to be rooted and established in it.

And even changed for the world to see.