As I write this today, any number of awful things are happening in the world. Communities have been devastated by fire, flood, and wind. Wars rage, violence erupts on city streets, governments that are supposed to protect oppress instead. Tragedy strikes, grief lingers, jobs are lost, and doctors can offer little to ease the mind. Sometimes, it doesn’t seem like God likes us very much, let alone loves us.

In my experience, one of the biggest stumbling blocks to faith for people who are non-believers lies in the absolute tyranny of life itself. How can a God who is love sit idly by while tragedy strikes, trauma endures, sickness continues, and injustice abounds? Truth be told, the most reasoned and best articulated answer I can give people who question God’s motives is simply this: The world is broken, and sometimes, it sucks.

But I can also unequivocally tell you this–God does love us, and the proof of that is everywhere. It’s in early-morning hours as the peachy orange of a new dawn slowly pushes the night away and the birds emerge from their slumber to sing the day into being. It’s in the praise song that fills my heart and compels me to sing as I take my son to early morning band practice. It’s in the daily reminders that my life is full of people who love me: texts from my mom sharing news of the day, calls from my sister while she’s waiting in the drive-thru lane at Starbucks, Sunday evening conversations with my in-laws as we unpack our week. God’s love is in the rhythm of daily living that my husband and I have cultivated together over the past 19 years, full of conversations about everything and nothing, laughter and love. It’s in those moments where I look at my boys and see glimpses of the thoughtful and talented men they are becoming, realizing that God is working in their lives even when I don’t notice.

When your heart is full of compassion and kindness, that is God’s love shining through. Paul reminds us in the letter to the Ephesians that God’s love doesn’t just skim the surface of life. It’s not temporal or transactional. It doesn’t ebb and flow. Instead, it is deep and wide, reaching well above and beyond anything we can grasp, let alone comprehend.

I think if people truly understood the height, width, depth, and breadth of God’s love, if they knew they are well and truly loved completely, then I have to think the world would change. This, then, is our mission as those who already know God’s all-surpassing and ever-encompassing love: We must be bearers of love until every person on this planet knows there is something bigger, something more powerful, something more sacred than what our eyes can see. If we truly want others to know God, then we need to love them.

And so, today, I offer this prayer:

God, give us courage and strength to love as you have loved.

God, give us patience and wisdom to love those whom you love.

God, give us compassion and understanding when we are seeking to share your love.

God, give us power to show love in ways that help others see there is a greater love.

And God, let us love because you love us.

In Jesus’ Name…Amen