A Love Letter Unaware

I probably saw it hundreds of times (and I am not exaggerating) if not more over the years, in the parking lot where my children attend school. The license plate on the car read “HELVSU.” Clever license plates often draw my attention. This one had me stumped at first. I finally resolved that it must be a city somewhere in Norway, and the people who drove the car must be from Norwegian descent. How wrong I was.

The other day, I picked up the children and as we were heading out of the parking lot my oldest daughter said, “Mom? Do you see that license plate? I think I finally figured it out! It says, “He loves you!” I looked, and there it was, as clear as day. How could I not have seen it? These letters did not reveal a frigid Baltic Sea city but rather a truth from a Holy God. He loves you. My daughter and I had both missed the obvious, right before our eyes, day after day. How surprised we were!

I wonder how many times I miss it – we miss it. God is scripting His love all around us and we don’t even see it, sometimes in the simple things of life, and other times in the complex times of life.

The message of His love is rustling through the leaves. It is splashed in the rain, scribbled on the movement of the clouds and bouncing in the laughter of a child. It is blowing in the flurry of the snow, bursting forth from the ground in the flowers of Spring and swirled in the wind. We experience God's love letter as it overflows in our joy. And the truth is that God's love letter is also present in our pain and is traced in our tears.

God was writing to me a note of encouragement – a love letter – right before my eyes, in a small way but I missed it. Dear reader, look for the message of God’s love that He is sending to you. He may be revealing it to you anywhere, at any time. It may be hard to see, at least it is for me, but He is calling to us and His love is an abundant, unfailing pursuing love. Trust Him. Even in times of great sorrow, confusion, despair or disappointment – His love is present and real. He loves you.