Love expanded

1 Corinthians 13:13 "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

Love: Reflecting 
©11-30-12 Hannah McLean

My eyes flip through the words
preserved lest I forget
as my heart rolls through the emotions
engrained within me

I am undone

How many times have I stood
with hand poised outside Your gate to knock
only to find my eyes unveiled to see
that you have already opened the door
and carried me inside Your holy courts?

I overflow

While Your words on the greatest way of Love
have been laid before me as I sway along
my uneven path
I have considered long
how my life reflects You
on the heights
and in the valleys

I am moved

Love is not just found in generous giving
it is what carries us when much has been taken away
Love is not just seen in the beauty of bright light
it is also in the faintest flicker through which our eyes adjust to see 
the details hidden in the darkness
Love is not just in the prolonging of comfort and rest
it is the offering of deep comforts in the center of complete unrest
Love is not just the feeling of affection the causes the heart to leap
it is the holding and the keeping when the heart lies broken
Love is not just words that land upon your ears
it is the active commitment when words fail and ears cannot hear
Love is not just in response to my lovability
it is what lifts me out of my loveless stupors and redeems
Love is more
always more

I am certain

You have never lifted Your hand from upon me
You have never moved Your wings from around my wounded soul
You have never taken Your eyes off me
You have never turned Your back
You have never closed Your ears to the sound of my voice
You have never left me

You have never left me

You will never leave

You have lifted me with Your mighty hand
comforted me with Your faithful promises
soothed me with Your boundless hope
touched me with Your gentle favor
calmed me with Your steady voice
carried me with Your endless strength

And every time I have lamented the
feeling of wandering from You
I have marveled at how near
You have stayed
How I have reached out my frantic hand
expecting to find nothing
and have found instead
Your presence and closeness
within my searching grasp

I am Yours
and in this truth
is the reflection of Your love
that my life has to offer