A Deeper Romance

Hollywood is loaded is with romantic ideas and many of us have taken our cue from Tinsel town as to what qualifies. It is usually a flashy ordeal with diamonds, dance numbers and beautiful people decked out in ball gowns and tuxedos. Hallmark commercials, cheap novels and jewelry stores also provide us with modern notions of how we should be romanced. Expensive gifts and hired musicians, flowers, and fireplaces, fancy foods and fantastic footwork are generally on the menu for proper courtship and romance.

As our twenty-first anniversary approaches my husband is up to his usual grumbling that I am not a normal woman with the usual idea of romance so it’s so much harder for him to figure out how to woo and wow me.

On the one hand, it’s not that hard. On the other hand, it takes everything he has.

I don’t want him to spend money on jewelry or chocolate; in fact, I’d prefer he not spend any money at all. What I truly desire is his attention, a walk in the woods, a book read together and discussed or a simple meal sharing memories of what we’ve meant to one another over the years. After all these years, he knows I’d rather camp than cruise. But, it’s much deeper than that.

For me, it’s the relationship that creates the romance. Romance that works for me begins when we say “good morning” and builds as we work through the daily challenges of parenting, paying bills and serving the Lord together. It’s the together part that makes the romance happen for me. If we haven’t been together in overcoming the obstacles of the day, it’s impossible to impress me with a bouquet and bottle of wine at dinner.

God is a romantic. You can tell by His extravagance and the lengths to which He goes to get our attention.

As I sat today stewing over my prayer time and my devotions, angry and frustrated that certain situations have not worked out to my desiring or over ways the Lord has tarried in answering other issues, I was determined to fret and scowl. As I read His Word, however, He whispered to me again about the depth of His love and reminded me of His unchanging character.

As I prayed, I looked out through the doors of my deck at the muted greens of the spring forest against the gray sky of a rainy day and marveled at His handiwork and the gift of this view. The greens and browns of the freshly budded woods were interrupted with occasional flashes of blue or red or yellow as the birds came to light on the feeders ever so briefly and then returned to nests hidden in the crooks of trees. Their varied songs warbled, cooed and whistled to me as the singers grew bold through the camouflage of their platforms.

Ever so slowly, the romance of creation quieted my heart and spoke to my soul of a deeper relationship, wooing me to see beyond the transient troubles of the day to the great heart of God.

The God of Creation wishes me to spend time in His presence. He wants my attention, my attendance, my full focus. He crossed the greatest of divides and gave His only Son to bring me safely into His fold. Because He created me, He knows the secrets of my own soul better than I.

Just as Hollywood has many plastic notions of romance, so the world has many misconceptions about a relationship with God and often these ideas pollute my own thinking. He is not a genie in a bottle. He is not the great wish-granter in the sky. He is not about making my life easier or taking my orders for my best life now.

He is all about a deeper story, a greater adventure, an eternal romance that began before I was born and will continue on into a place where there will be no more false notions, no Hollywood hoaxes, no cheap imitations of grace. And He wants me beside Him on this adventure.

On the one hand, it’s not that hard. On the other hand, it takes everything I have.

The romance of God calls to me and I will follow into the deep, deep heart of the greatest story ever told.

“See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.” Song of Songs 2:11-13