And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:5 (NASB 2020)

It was the Fall last year. I was at the Healing Rooms at Bethel Church in Redding, California. Bethel is my former church and though I now live six hundred miles away, I still consider it home in many ways. As we sat in the waiting room for the healing room session to begin (the healing rooms consist of three phases: a small teaching, a prayer and worship service, and then actually receiving prayer from a team), the coordinator asked if anyone had pain in their wrist. I raised my hand and he came over, touched my wrist, and began asking for Jesus to heal me.

Suddenly a profound peace came over me, almost tangible like a weight resting on my chest. And then a sensation I can only describe as liquid love broke through and began filling my heart, causing me to weep. I had experienced the love of God before, but this was more profound than I had ever experienced. It was also something I had been praying for in the weeks leading up to this encounter with God, prompted by the scripture verse where Jesus says to his disciples, “Wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”¹ The experience increased as we made our way to the sanctuary for worship and prayer. I was weeping uncontrollably.

In the weeks and months that followed, I continued to encounter God’s love in this way during my times of personal prayer, experiencing an intimacy with him I had not experienced in decades. Ironically, my wrist was not much better! But I really did not care. God’s love was all that really mattered. And in a way, it is the only thing that matters for any of us. Though we may go through many trials this side of heaven, God’s love is the one thing we cannot be separated from, and it is the one thing that does not disappoint.

1. Acts 1:4-5 ↩︎