God’s Transforming Love

I stood in front of the dresser and glanced at the red stickers with the white letters. They read, “i am loved.” I had seen them before, but this time God got my attention. I sensed His pure, true love. It was so gentle and light, it took away a heaviness I did not even know existed. The gentle presence of His love caused me to give my complete devotion to God. I never wanted to serve the world again. In that moment I felt as if I had never been loved before, as if this were the first time the sweet tendrils of love had wrapped around my heart.

I knew God had created me for a relationship with Him.

I wanted to stay wrapped up in His love forever, but the feeling dissipated. I remember the day I received the stickers. As my thirteen-year-old daughter and I walked past the carousel in the mall, a middle-aged man introduced himself and asked if he could pray for us. I thought of all the times I had been told to beware of strangers, but I smiled and said, “Yes.” We bowed our heads, and he prayed. After he said “Amen,” he reached into a bag and pulled out a couple of pins and stickers, red with white letters spelling out “i am loved.” I tucked them into a small zippered pocket in my purse and forgot about them. Years later I noticed the purse hanging unused in the back of my closet. I decided to clean out all the old receipts, dried-up pens, and the other junk that collects in a purse. When I found the stickers, I smiled at the memory and put them on my dresser to remind me of God’s love. I long to reexperience the power of that moment in time when God’s love showed up so clearly—with noise-canceling headphones and strong glasses. But it did provide me with a true north to the compass of my life.

Now, when I am tempted to sin, I try to remember to ask for the sweetness of the power of God’s love to protect me. I picture it like the wings of protection He promises to cover us with. “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart” (Psalm 91:4, NIV).

Feathers may not seem to provide much protection in the whole scheme of things, but when we hide under God’s love, His faithfulness changes us.

We are transformed by His love.

Miranda Hadley