Devotional.
Jesse just had his second birthday, and his favorite present was a digger.
Well, not just any digger: a cement mixer, excavator and loader all in one, with flashing lights and sounds. I can see why it's popular.
It is also the most fought-over object in our house at the moment.
Theo, who is four, could not understand why, on his little brother's birthday, his brother would want to play with his own new toy.
We had ten minutes before school. Theo spent them in tears because he couldn't have a go.
Then we went to the park. Of course the digger came too. Within minutes, every child there wanted a turn.
It cost around £20 (about $25), and I still can't tell you why this one toy has caused such a stir. We've only had it one day, and I've lost count of the arguments.
Watching them, I realized the tears were never really about the digger.
There was only one of it. So every turn one child took was a turn another child didn't get.
Whoever was holding it was being watched by three who weren't. The hard part was the waiting.
Grown-ups can do a quieter version of the same thing.
We would never snatch a toy, but we can still start to wonder if God's love works like that digger. As if there is only so much to go around, and someone else's blessing means a longer wait for ours.
Paul wrote to a church that had its own version of the park, people comparing gifts and competing to be noticed.
Right in the middle of his letter he says, "Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn't envy." And a few lines later, "Love never fails."
God's love is not one toy with a line around it.
His love for your friend doesn't come out of the same pile as His love for you. He doesn't have to put someone down to pick you up. Nobody waits for a turn, and nobody gets less because someone else got some.
Psalm 136 says it twenty-six times, once at the end of every verse: "His loving kindness endures forever."
It's as if God knew we'd need to hear it more than once.
So know this: God's love is not something you have to wait in line for.
It isn't handed out in turns, and it doesn't run low when others get some.
It's yours today, all of it, and it always will be. His love never fails you.
Prayer.
Lord, Your love never fails me, never disappoints, never withdraws, never depends on my performance or changes when I fall short.
I've experienced love that failed, relationships that ended, people who left, promises that were broken, and I need the security of love that's constant, unchanging, unshakeable.
Teach me that Your love is different from human love, not based on feelings that fluctuate or commitment that wavers, but rooted in Your unchanging character, guaranteed by who You are.
Your love never fails means it's always present, always faithful, always pursuing me even when I push away, always choosing me even when I'm unlovable.
Help me find my security in love that never fails instead of constantly seeking it from sources that inevitably disappoint, to let Your unfailing love be enough when other love falls short.
Remind me that people will fail me because they're human, but You never will, that disappointment in human love doesn't mean I'm unloved, it means I need to anchor deeper in Yours.
Give me peace that comes from being loved by the One whose love never fails, confidence that's built on affection that won't be withdrawn, security in love that's permanent.
Let me rest today knowing His love never fails me, that I'm held by love that's constant, chosen by love that's faithful, secure in love that will never end.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
