Unpretentious love

A bouquet of wild flowers from Abba

One morning as I was looking for Abba, I found myself in a field of wild flowers. There I saw Abba and He was... picking flowers. I thought that was so absurd, I mean God of the universe picking flowers! But as I continued to look for Abba, the Spirit kept bringing me back to that field. So I yielded.

I walked towards Abba and called Him. Abba turned around and before I could even ask Him who the flowers were for, He gave them to me and said with a big, loving smile, "These are for you!"

I took the flowers and in my hands were the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen. Not the kind of beauty that's intimidating, but the kind that is subtle and gentle that you can spend whole day looking at, and the more you look at it, the more beautiful it becomes. I was lost for words for a moment, and then I told Abba, "Wild flowers are my favourite."

"I know," He said.

"You never like flashy things, no matter how beautiful or grand they may be. These wild flowers reflect you, they are just like you."

At that point, tears started to roll down my cheeks. No one has ever given me a bouquet of wild flowers. And only the day before, as I was cleaning the house and was throwing away dry flowers, I said in my heart, "Wild flowers are my favourite."

I used to like roses just because I thought women should like roses. But as I grew more mature, I realise that wild flowers are my kind of flowers, they are just unpretentious and naturally beautiful, no gimmick, and so honest. And no one has ever managed to guess that or know that. But Abba. You might say, "Well He is God, He knows everything." True, but He's proving something to me.

You see, I always say to my closest people, "When you truly love someone, you care about what the person cares for. You will learn what the person likes or doesn't like." Love takes efforts, love enquires, love cares, and love needs to be demonstrated, be it in spending time, money, attention. That is true when we love God and when we love people. That's why real love is rare, because it's not an easy, careless thing.

How many times we buy something for someone just because we "need" to give the person a gift? And we cut short giving the best to that person, whatever the reason may be? Yet we say we love them.

Maybe that's why I prefer quality over quantity. I don't need a village of friends, I prefer one true friend that can last a lifetime, to the point every time my husband hears me saying that, he will tease me, "You are like Jesus!" Well, I care about the motivation, the honesty, the authenticity... the heart.

And Abba is like that. More than anything, He wants our hearts. You maybe giving Him a million dollar, but when you're wealthy and a million dollar doesn't hurt, you are not giving Him an offering that pleases Him. Remember the story that Jesus told about the widow who gave two mites? That's why Abba asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, not his gold or flocks. What is your Isaac?

Love is not love if it doesn't hurt. When you love, you give your best.

Extreme? Well we serve an extreme God. The God who because of His great love for us was willing to give His only begotten Son to die in our place. Can you even comprehend the pain He had? THAT is love.

Truth of the matter is I will take any flowers Abba gives me gladly. But Abba is not like that. He never shortchanges me. He cares to give me what I love. With those flowers He is saying, "I love you that much that I know what you like and the desire in your heart. I will not withhold any good things from you, because I love you."

I think you get the point here.

We often get it wrong about what's important. We often think in the way of the world. We feel good when we are part of a big ministry, but God rather has one person prays and ministers with faith and obedience than a few hundred people without it. We think the more people like our Facebook or Instagram page the more we are loved. We know deep inside that is not true. We are chasing people's approval when the only approval we need is Abba's.

God thinks differently. The economy and the law of the Kingdom of Heaven is an upside down one to this world's. He's never about number, He's all about our hearts. He's about authenticity, about being honest and real. Our motivation is everything to Him. Are we being honest about who we are, the life we really have, or don't have? Or is it all about an image we want the world to believe to the point it puts us in a bondage and we don't even know it?

Abba knows everything. He knows you and He loves you. Take off the masks and come to Him as you are. Just come to Him and let His love brings out the real you. Only His love can change you.