Extravagant Love #1

I once read somewhere that shortly following his conversion, Charles Wesley penned the words of the hymn, And Can It Be, That I Should Gain? with the chorus that Chris Tomlin has remixed into the chorus Amazing Love (and he even credits Wesley with the words):
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me!

Each of us is a repository of God's incredibly extravagant love expressed to us in Jesus. Were it just his love that he displayed on the cross, that would be remarkable enough. But what continues to stagger me as how much he loves on us simply because he wants to. These accounts are simply from my life and from people I personally know whose lives continue to be touched by his amazing love.

I wrote the following story last spring immediately before Christine's Senior Prom:

The Dress

It's the spring of the year and though it feels like November out there, Easter is but a few days away. But it's not only Eastertide, more importantly to a certain population (if I can even say that) it's also Prom season - the time when all young women venture out into the wilds of the malls and outlet centers in search of that elusive oh-so-perfect dress. Well, preachers' daughters are no different from any other young women and so that it is how it was that last Saturday Linda and Christine (with sister Emma in tow) were at Oakwood Mall shopping for a gown. Linda was working on a $100 budget - which is like trying to find nice champagne on a beer budget. On impulse, when they arrived at the mall, she turned to Christine and said: "Let's pray before we go in and ask for God's favor so that we can find the dress for you." And so they didand made a b-line to Christine's favorite store (Deb's, if you must know).

Now due to Christine's height (or lack thereof) shopping for prom dresses usually is a bit of an ordeal. Everything is way too long or too narrow resulting in a lot of collateral stress. But on Saturday, upon entering Deb's, she went right to the rack and there, as if had been waiting for her, was a beautiful black gown. It fit perfectly. And the tag read $99. When they took it up to the register, the cashier said, "Oh, this one is on sale for 15% off." As Linda related to me later, at that her mouth dropped open and she looked at Christine whose mouth also had dropped open and they both started to laugh...and then cry...and then laugh again - all to the bemusement of this cashier. So not only did they find a beautiful dress they also had enough left over to accessorize. Isn't God good?

We all know that God knows our needs. He knows we need shelter and clothing and food and adequate transportation. But what I think is so awesome about our heavenly Father is that he also cares about our wants. In all the cosmos, with all the need that fills this planet - from the carnage in Darfur to the turmoil in Iraq - he still has more than enough compassion and love to satisfy the innate desire of an 18-year-old young woman to look beautiful for her prom.

Such extravagance makes me want to serve him all my day.