"Fluttering Butterflies" by: Heidi Avery

Falling in love is truly spectacular isn’t it? I remember when I met my husband; at the time I swore it was love at first sight. I was immediately taken in by him, completely swept away. My every thought was on him, I was starry –eyed to say the least! I would dream about all the creative things I could do to make him happy. Poetry was literally dripping off of my finger tips. My tummy was filled with sweet fluttering butterflies, it was wonderful.

I was in love!

I think it was oh, 2 years later that while I was still in love with him I noticed that the butterflies had quietly flown away. We all experience this and once the butterflies are gone, a veil is lifted and things are more serious and far less romantic. The story is the same for all lovers.

Saying goodbye to the butterflies is sad, but there are many wonderful advantages that come with a love that has matured. A beautiful trust is built providing comfort, security and true genuine intimacy… things that just can’t exist for us unless love has matured.

Even though the advantages of true mature love out weigh the feelings of new love we still have a tendency to desire that spectacular old feeling that accompanies new love. We still long for fluttering butterflies, don’t we?

Well, what if I told you there was a love that comes packaged complete with never-ending fluttering butterflies and all the beautiful advantages of mature love right from the start, plus more! It’s true, it exists. I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I wasn’t experiencing it first hand. I have fallen in love again and, no I’m not having an affair! I am in love with the One who is love himself, God. I am really getting to know and experience Him in ways I never imagined and I never want to go back.

I’ve been learning about God all these years, reading the bible, praying and thinking I was experiencing him, but feeling like there should be more. I realized that I “knew” a lot about God, but I hadn’t truly “experienced” him for myself. Henry Blackaby explains it perfectly in his book Experiencing God… “There is a world of difference between knowing something to be true in your head and experiencing the reality in your life.”

So true!

Don’t get me wrong, He’s been working in my life and I have truly been transformed over the last 10 years of my Christian walk. I have loved him, but from an unknowing distance. I didn’t realize that I could have such an up-close and personal relationship with Him. The reasons will be different for everyone, but for me I hadn’t completely surrendered my life to him and didn’t really understand how to. Also, I didn’t really believe HE could love me. I have such insecurity that runs so deep that I have a difficult time believing anyone could love me, especially a supernatural God. I was wrong.

God is calling us ALL to not just know about him, but to really know him and experience him in our lives. It’s for us, yes, but ultimately it’s so we are able to obey him and go out and do the work of the kingdom. If we truly love him then we want to experience him this way too. The best part about all of this is when you are in love with Him, obeying him is a blessing. His ways may still be different then ours, but because we are in love with him we will want desperately to please him and that becomes our reward.

So, how do you go about falling in love with God?

“Believe” that He loves you! John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” and Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

“Surrender” your life! Give up your plans for your life and confess that his ways are best… Matthew 16: 24,25 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

“Pray” for it! pray for him to allow you to experience a true deep love and intimacy with him and he is faithful to deliver. Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” And Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

“Obey” him! If we truly love him we will want to obey him and obeying him is our way of showing him that we are in love with him… John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

“Receive” his blessings! 1 Corinthians 2:9 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"

Father, we each seek to fill our tummies with sweet fluttering butterflies over you. We have tasted your goodness and it has both satisfied and made us thirsty for more. We long to experience you intimately, to be lost in love with you so much that obedience is no task, but a blessing to our hearts. Help us to move all that we know about you in our heads into the believing parts of our hearts so we may experience you in ways we never imagined. Equip us to do the business of the Kingdom out of our love for you and so that your Holy name will be glorified.