“…God is love.” — John 4:8.
Imagine standing beside a river. You didn’t create it. You didn’t dig the channel, determine its direction, or decide how fast the water should move. The river was flowing long before you arrived. That picture helps show God’s love.
God’s love is not something we manufacture. It isn’t a reward we earn by being good enough, religious enough, or obedient enough. The river of God’s love was already flowing toward us before we ever knew we needed it.
Sometimes we approach God’s will as though we’re standing beside a river with a map, trying desperately to figure out which way to go. We worry about making the wrong decision. We analyze every possibility. We grip the paddle tightly and convince ourselves that everything depends on us. That’s what it means to white-knuckle our way through life.
But a river offers a different picture.
When you get into a river, you don’t have to create the current. You simply learn to recognize it and move with it. You can fight the current, of course. You can paddle against it until you’re exhausted. You can spend the entire trip trying to force the river to go where you want it to go.
Or you can trust the current.
Following God is learning to recognize where He is moving and having the faith to climb in.
And why can we trust the current?
Because God is love. The river of God’s will isn’t flowing toward destruction. His heart is not against you. He isn’t secretly waiting around the next bend hoping you’ll make a mistake. The God who invites you into the river is the same God who loves you completely.
We often mistake difficult circumstances for evidence that God has abandoned us. But sometimes the most important part of a river adventure happens in the rapids. That’s where we discover whether we truly trust the One leading us.
God’s love doesn’t promise a trouble-free river. It promises His presence in the river. You don’t need to know everything that’s around the next bend. You need to know the One who does.
That’s the beauty of God’s love. It gives us confidence to let go. We don’t have to white-knuckle the paddle, fight every current, or panic every time the river turns.
We can trust the Guide.
So perhaps the question today isn’t, “How do I control where this river takes me?”
Perhaps it’s, “Where is God already moving, and am I willing to get in?”
The river is flowing. God’s love is the current. And the invitation is simple: Trust His heart. Release your grip. Get in the river.
The adventure of knowing and doing God’s will begins when we trust that the God who leads us is the God who loves us.
Discussion questions
- If God’s love is like the current of a river, where are you tempted to fight the current and try to control the direction of your life rather than trust where God is leading?
- What would it look like this week to release your grip, trust God’s love, and “get in the river” by following where He is already moving?