I did not have to travel to Ireland, like Finley Sinclair of
there you’ll find me did.
Instead I found the grace of God’s words on my dry soul sitting my
living room opening my Bible. See, in
Jenny B Jones’s newest novel the main character Finley, whose name means warrior, goes on a mission to
rediscover the love of God she thought she lost after her brother’s unexpected
death.
I can’t relate to that. I
haven’t lost anyone that close to me.
I also couldn’t relate to
Finley’s eating disorder or perfectionist personality begging for control over
the multitude of uncontrollables in her life.
However I can relate to her need to FEEL God’s love. I can relate to wanting to tangibly touch and feel and know that
the Almighty is okay with me, because to be honest I am a wreck inside. And I often think that only Him and I know
that. So if I can’t seem to love me very
much than either could He, right?
Do you ever feel that way?
Take my hand and let me lead you down a road that Jenny B Jones, her
character Finley, and God took me on this week.
Let’s turn to Romans chapter eight. This is where the key verse from the novel
comes from. Verse 37 to be exact.
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
First let me point out that even though the word ‘loved’ is a past
tense verb, God’s love for us is not past tense. I had often grappled with this – why is His
love often written in the past tense. I
finally discovered why. (To be honest I
do not remember where I got this from, but it was when I was studying for my camp talks this summer.) God’s act of love was sending His Son to die on
the cross. It was his 'once and for all
time' stamp on our lives. That action was
past tense. His love is forever and it
is past, present and future. When you
see the past tense form of ‘love’ it is probably referring to the act of love
that God bestowed upon us. Christ. On a cross.
For me.
