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If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
1 John 4:15 NIV

And so we KNOW and RELY on the love God has for us.

It is staggering the amount of change a widow is plunged into with the loss of her husband.

We lose our husbands, our best friends, our closest companion, our lovers, our encouragers, and in addition many of our couple friends. We lose our eating companions, our bill payers, our bug killers, our trash haulers, our handymen, our memory keepers and just someone who really, really knows us. And if that isn’t enough many of us also deal with family strife, losing our homes, having to move, financial worries, and new health issues brought on by all the stress.

I have definitely been through a tremendous amount of change. God has lead me through the changes and I have obeyed. I was excited about serving Him in a new capacity and in a new city but I also found that in the midst of the excitement, I started grieving again over what once was. I missed my husband every day. I missed my friends and church family in Plano. I missed the season of my life where my days were busy with being a wife, mother, and bible study group leader. I missed what once was. Sometimes, I still do.

So then, how do we press on in our new seasons while perhaps still grieving over what once was?

I cling to His Word. It is the way, the truth and the life. It is how I KNOW who He is. It gives me peace and it enables me to RELY on the love He has for me. What does rely really mean? Merriam- Webster Dictionary defines rely as: 1: to be dependent 2:to have confidence based on experience.

I KNOW that I am dependent on God’s love. I think about His love for me each and every day. I count on it. When I mess up, I run to Him because of His love for me. When I am discouraged, I cry out to Him because of His love for me. When I am afraid, I call out to Him because of His love for me. Whenever I need anything, I RELY on Him because of His love for me.

Without His love, without Him, I would have nothing. I am dependent on His love. And I have confidence based on experience.

I am blessed to KNOW the truth – that if we believe in Him we have eternal life. And I rejoice in the truth that someday Our Lord will return and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. There will be no more darkness. He will reign in His righteousness. Oh what a glorious day that will be!

But even now, I rejoice that because I believe His Son died for me, He lives in me. The God of all creation, the Alpha and Omega, the Most Holy One, my Redeemer, my Savior, my Lord, lives in me and I in Him. It is inconceivable and yet I KNOW it is true, because He has made himself known to me. I am confident based on experience, because He has shown His love for me, by sending His Son to die on the cross for me. I am confident, based on my experience, of Him living in me.

Sisters, in every step of this journey, in the blessings and the challenges – Rely on the love He has for you.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us! Thank You for creating us to be dependent on your love and thank You for giving us confidence based on the experience of You sending Your Son to die on the cross to pay for our sins. And thank You for the confidence that comes from the experience of You living in us! I pray that each and every one of us would fully rely on Your love and share Your love generously with others! Help us to follow You in every way!

In your Son’s Holy and Precious Name. Amen.