The Wilful Sunflower

One Sunday night I didn稚 feel like going home, so I cruised around in my little car. It was midnight, and for once I wasn稚 in a hurry to get anywhere in particular. Figured it was a good a time as any to check out some unfamiliar roads and see where they lead to.

I took my car back to the city with me on Aug 25 � my birthday! � and am still pretty unfamiliar with the roads around here. Every time I need to go somewhere, I either ask my colleagues to draw me a map, call a friend for directions, or if it痴 an official function, I get the PR people to fax/email me a map. Getting lost is mostly an adventure but after too many times, it痴 hard to remain determinedly cheerful.

Going 50kph along Federal Highway (and having practically every other car overtake me, heheh) I tuned in to Light N Easy. This station plays 田ontinuous relaxing favourites,� as their tagline says. I have friends who claim it痴 an 登ld people痴 station� because it plays slow songs � some sentimental, some oldies� But I知 a slow, quiet song kind of person, so Light N Easy happens to be my favourite station. Not that I normally tune in to stations; I prefer cassettes coz then I can control what I listen to� and I won稚 have to be jarred by people talking in between songs!

Engelbert Humperdinck's voice came over the airwaves. (Not that I knew it was him; I looked up the song on Google.com!) 撤lease release me, let me go / For I don't love you any more / To waste our lives would be a sin / Release me and let me love again,� he begged.

What kind of love is that? In MY book, love is a commitment, not an emotion! How long before the guy in this song says the same thing to his 渡ew love�, and moves on to yet another? Can you imagine the devastation he leaves behind?

Relationships take effort. Lots of effort. Even I, who have never been in one, know that. That痴 why communication is so important. Running away (leaving) is always the easy way out when something goes wrong, when your needs are not being met, when you are dissatisfied or irritated or frustrated. But I believe that if both parties are committed to the relationship, they will be able to work things out � with God痴 help.

A lady once told me that she came to a point where she simply could not feel any love for her husband any longer. She said, 的 came before God frightened of my bankruptcy of love for my husband. But praise be to God. He is the Love that never runs dry. All I need to do is ask. So I did. I ask every day for love for my husband and the Lord has been filling me up since, and whenever I run low.� Isn稚 that beautiful? God is able.

的 don稚 love you anymore� is never an excuse to end the relationship. 的 don稚 love you anymore� is really 的 never loved you in the first place�! 的 don稚 love you anymore� is usually 的 only lusted after you.� Yes, the truth hurts. And it痴 ugly. Ugh.

Love is a commitment. God loved us so much that He gave His only Son to die on the cross for us. It hurt Him, but He was committed to us. He desired to have a relationship with us. And so He made a sacrifice, put the effort in, and reached out to us. God is committed to us. Are we committed to Him?

We say we love Him, but when difficult times roll by, do we ask, 展hy do You do this to me?� or, 展hy do You let this happen?� Are we then tempted to walk away? Is our 斗ove� just an emotion, or is it really love???

The Bible says that God is love (I John 4:16). If we say we love someone, we should wonder whether we love the way God loves. Here is the clearest definition of love:

It is not self-seeking. Listen to the words of the song again: 撤lease release me, let me go / For I don't love you any more / To waste our lives would be a sin / Release me and let me love again.� Wouldn稚 you say they were self-seeking? I would�