As I sit with the Lord this morning I am struck by my desire for you to know Jesus like I do. He is so amazing! I am constantly in awe of Him. I truly cannot believe the way he shows up when I spend time with Him, or even when I simply look for Him in the day-to-day. I went for years without truly knowing Him. I knew of Him, but that pales in comparison to knowing Him. He is my best friend. He knows me better than anyone and loves me more than anyone. I am telling you… I am head over heels, madly in love with Him!
I couldn’t have understood it until I experienced it. If it all sounds too hard to believe, I get it. But I am telling you this because I long to see you know it too! I am not talking religion y’all. The intimacy I experience with the King of Kings consistently leaves me in awe. We all long to be loved like this. It is how He designed us. We are born with this desire and search for the fulfillment of it in every pocket of the earth – for that one something that is missing. We will NEVER fill the void until we fall into His arms. And when we do, it is effortless.
So many of us wonder why we have it all right in front of us (a good marriage, a beautiful home, a healthy family…) and yet we are still longing for something. You long because He beckons. He won’t give up until He gets you. He is your Knight in shining armor.
Recently God has been speaking to me through two love songs from 1980’s… “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler (1984) and “Lookin’ for Love” by Johnny Lee (1980). He often speaks to me this way. The lyrics of these song flabbergast me. In the song “Holding Out for a Hero”, the woman is holding out for an intangible, impossible, impeccable, improbable hero. Yet she is searching for it in the tangible. She knows what she is looking for, and yet is “lookin’ for love in all the wrong places”. Read through the lyrics below and know that the Hero and the Lover in both of these song can only be found in Jesus.
Holding out for a Hero (Bonnie Tyler, 1984)
CHORUS
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong and he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the morning light
He’s gotta be sure and it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life, larger than life
VERSES
Where have all the good men gone and where are all the Gods?
Where’s the street wise Hercules to fight the rising odds?
Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need
Somewhere after midnight in my wildest fantasy
Somewhere just beyond my reach there’s someone reaching back for me
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
It’s gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet
Up where the mountains meet the heavens above
Out where the lightning splits the sea
I could swear that there’s someone somewhere watching me
Through the wind and the chill and the rain
And the storm and the flood
I can feel his approach like a fire in my blood
Lookin’ for Love (Johnny Lee, 1980)
CHORUS
I was lookin’ for love in all the wrong places
Lookin’ for love in too many faces
Searchin’ their eyes
Lookin’ for traces of what I’m dreaming of
Hoping to find a friend and lover
I’ll bless the day I discover
Another heart lookin’ for love
VERSES
I spent a lifetime lookin’ for you
Single bars and good time lovers were never true
Playing a fools game, hopin’ to win
Tellin’ those sweet lies and losin’ again
I was alone then, no love in sight
I did everything I could to get me through the night
I don’t know where it started or where it might end
I turned to a stranger just like a friend
You came knockin’ on my heart’s door
You’re everything I’ve been looking for
No more lookin’ for love in all the wrong places
Lookin’ for love in too many faces
Searchin’ their eyes
Lookin’ for traces of what I’m dreaming of
Now that I found a friend and lover
God bless the day I discover
You, oh you, lookin’ for love
No one and nothing will satisfy the desires of your heart like Jesus. Your Creator designed you to desire Him and Him alone. This isn’t a billboard that reads “Jesus Loves You”. How many people just glaze past those signs with a Seinfeld “yada, yada, yada” ringing in their minds? This is NOT a Jesus loves you add. This is the voice of a friend telling you that the Lover of your dreams is waiting for you.
Imagine the dating world for a moment – whether you are currently in it and searching, or far from it… A friend comes to you and tells you that they have found the man of your dreams, and he longs to meet you. That lover already knows everything about you and is head-over-heels for you. What would you do? I know I would have put my best foot forward and trusted them. I would have gotten all dolled up and gone to meet him.
This isn’t a fairy tale… The one thing your heart desires more than anything else is here. Trust me friend! Oh how I wish I could write a compelling enough story to help you see. The answer to your deepest desires is here!
Go find the one thing you’ve been searching for. The hero you’ve been holding out for. The love you’ve been looking for in all the wrong places. He is revealing Himself to you, “like fire in the night”. You have already won Him over. He is crazy for you, and He has been waiting for you all your life. There is nothing you can do to mess this one up. All He wants from you is your love and devotion. Jesus does love you. It’s true. Are you ready to be swept off your feet? Go on… He is waiting. Don’t let another day pass. It is effortless. Simply fall back into His arms.