Receiving His Love

The Lord God is all-good and all-loving; He does not withhold His love, His burning charity from anyone. And yet we do not all receive His love to the same degree. Some have a greater capacity to receive love and throughout our life that capacity can increase or decrease.

Sin can diminish this capacity, at least temporarily- while we remain in the throes and bondage of sin. But God, in His great love, rejoices over a sinner redeemed, one who was dead and is now alive, able to receive God’s life-giving love once again. Love, manifest as mercy, washes away the obstacles to God’s love and our capacity is restored, perhaps even expanded in response to the gratitude we feel for God’s merciful love rescuing us from our sin.

Our capacity to receive God’s love increases as we walk faithfully along this pilgrim road. Times of prayer, in which we listen to the Lord’s voice, become well-acquainted with Him and His goodness, can expand our souls to allow more of His love to enter in. Growth in virtue, whereby we become more like unto our Beloved, learning to see as He sees and to love as He loves, opens us up to flowing streams of His charity. Our souls expand as we become more who we were made to be, more perfectly conformed to His image.

But perhaps nothing expands our capacity to receive God’s love more than our suffering. In our suffering we recognize most deeply our need for God, our complete dependence on Him. We cease to rely on ourselves or the things of this world for strength or consolation. We see that they are not enough, they were never enough. What we truly need is God’s love. Job alone on a dung heap, stripped of all else, can finally fully receive God’s love.

Our sufferings, in whatever form they appear, however they manifest, strip us our accustomed refuge places, those things that shield us from God, keeping Him at a distance. We are left exposed to Him, aware of our need, our brokenness, our nothingness, and this is indeed a place of great privilege for it is here, where we are defenseless, that we are able to receive the full, wonderous, glorious strength of God’s love.