I know illness, suffering, and death are real.  That is the reality of life in this realm. Yet within this realm we are also given the opportunity to witness and experience the healing power of God’s Love. I capitalize the word “Love” for it is of a divine nature that is beyond our comprehension to understand but not beyond our ability to know.

So many examples. . .

Love powers our individual acts of selfless sacrifice seemingly beyond our ability to know how we can do it, taking care of another through their hardship, not even noticing hours have passed without our eating or noticing the sacrifice on our own part. This intense sacrificial love is fueled by our Abba, through Yeshua, enabling us to love another so inexplicably and intensely.

Love powers our ability to care for our dying loved ones not noticing their excretions but instead being able to witness the pain in their eyes and then experience that point when you know they have seen that next world, when we can finally take comfort that their suffering has ended and that our mutual love will never end.

The love we experience in this realm is connected to and part of the infinite circle of love God has for us and we for God. Sometimes, sadly, the circle is broken, not on God’s side, but rather on our side when we no longer feel His Love.

It probably starts when we have experienced huge disappointments in life and question whether there really is a God. We start feeling unloved which triggers a cascade of literally damning thoughts from the evil one to work at making that disconnect permanent.

A few years ago a long time friend who still states she is a believer in God/Yeshua asked to be removed from my Shabbat encouragement distribution list. She did not want to read any more of my “rainbow filled, unrealistic views” on life. Of course I understood but only being human, some of the comments she made about the quality of my writing did hurt my feelings. Nevertheless, we have maintained our friendship, and it is a close one even though our world views are diametrically opposed. Despite our differences, our conversations can be difficult, yet rewarding.

She recently was telling me how shocked she was that so many people on FaceBook wished her a happy birthday. The tone of that conversation with me was like it was from a different person! Since then she has been sending me interesting YouTube videos to watch on non negative topics and seems so . . . not unhappy!

This transformation, this healing, is the result of feeling loved, and all love comes from God. We are just the messengers yet we carry Yeshua’s love in our hearts so we are mightily equipped! The dramatic change in her demeanor, even if it turns out to be short lived, showed me the power a community has in uplifting those who struggle with feeling loved. A person who lives alone and has more than her share of life’s hardships really felt God’s Love through this group of people’s simple acts of reaching out with good wishes on her birthday. She did not feel alone. She felt loved. That is the healing power of love, and a reminder to keep sharing it with others for it is powerful!!

Even a smile is a way to share His Love. When you smile at another (love on them) the person most often will smile back (their love on you). You both feel loved. That love is from God. That interaction is an example of the Divine circle of love as we love God through prayer, worship, and acts of lovingkindness to others and He loves us constantly even when we don’t recognize He’s there.

Onto, of course, the Diane rainbow example . . .

Sid and I are beginning our long drive back home. We tend to spend the nights at Cracker Barrel restaurants for they welcome overnight RVers. Normally Sid will pick up a breakfast there and we hit the road.

This morning, however, he felt like a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin, so we didn’t frequent this particular Cracker Barrel. It just didn’t feel right to leave without buying something there after such a wonderful night’s sleep in their parking lot so I told him I’d just run in and get a couple packs of gum.

Well of course I had to peek at the gift shop (which always has adorable things) and there it was – a perfect long dress I could wear at Ruach and it was 75% off!! Not only that, they had Sid’s two favorite kinds of sugar free candy! Not only that we had earned $5 Reward Points from our previous purchases! I got all that and the two packs of gum for $21!!! Well if that’s not a God Love Drop for following my heart to act lovingly, what is??!!

Those “synchronicities”, those unexpected gifts, blessings, are His love language. His Love language is also giving us breath in the morning, days of beauty, rain showers, fortitude to withstand pain and loss, mercy, grace, forgiveness, an unending list of life’s blessings. In addition to the direct ways of prayer and worship, when we love others we love Him. This is our love language. The more we follow our hearts to love others, whether sacrificially, selflessly, humbly, with grace, or in good conscience led, the better able we are to feel His Love. We become able inexplicably to love better for our hearts are powered by Yeshua’s love.

These are the earthly ways we can tangibly feel His reality in our lives, His arms around us in an unbreakable embrace forming that Divine circle of love with our Abba.

You don’t have to get deals at Cracker Barrel to feel loved. All you have to do is recognize and believe that the more you love yourself and others, the more you will be able to recognize and feel loved by our Creator, for His Love is ever present, indestructible, unending.

Love yourself. Love others. Love Him.

Shabbat shalom.

Diane