His Betrothed

"And I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, then you will know the Lord." God loves us in all those ways: eternally, righteously, justly, compassionately, faithfully, and with lovingkindness. Meditate on that for awhile and feel your spirits soar. And notice the reason He does so--that we "will know the Lord." He knows us completely and loves us deeply anyway, loves us so deeply that He might reveal all that He is to us. He calls us to seek His face, to know Him as an intimate friend and lover of our souls. Spend our resources on our own comforts and wants, He loves us anyway. Like Peter, swear that we don't know Him, and He loves us anyway. His love has clothed me in His righteousness. His love calls Him forth as our Advocate and Defender. His love motivates Him to acts of kindness on my behalf. His love is moved with compassion when my needs--physical and spiritual--are not being met. And when His heart is moved by compassion, He always moves to meet that need. Even when I fail to thank Him for His gracious supply. His love is faithful even when I am faithless. And He desires that I might see Him at work in all of these things, that I might see His face, not just in the life to come, but now, among the living.
And how do I seek His face? How do I gain the ability to see with spiritual eyes the working of God in my life? Taste and see that the Lord is good--feast on His Word. Wait on the Lord that you might see His goodness. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. Offer a continual sacrifice of praise on your lips to Him. Love your neighbor as He loves you. Cast all your cares on Him. Keep His commandments. If you can't find God in your life, it's not because He isn't there. It's not because He isn't lavishing His love on you. It's because you are not seeking His face, seeking to know Him. Seek the things of earth, seek self-satisfaction, seek the praise of men, and you may even find it--temporarily. But you won't find the confidence and fearlessness and joy that comes from seeing His hand, the hand that loves you as no one else can, working works of love every step of the way to that face-to-face meeting in the place He has prepared for those who love Him.