DAY 15 — WHEN LOVE DOESN’T ABOUND

Sometimes love doesn’t just feel hard—it feels impossible.

I once received a desperate text during a church service from a young woman in an unloving, painful situation. She wanted to know: should I stay, or should I go? The connection had been broken. Love was not abounding toward her, and she felt powerless.

That’s when we remember: our ability to connect with other people, loving and forgiving doesn’t come from us—it comes from Christ.

Corrie ten Boom knew this well. After surviving the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp where her sister died, she later encountered one of the guards who had become a Christian. He asked for her forgiveness. She recognized him instantly—and admitted to herself, she couldn’t forgive him. But in that moment, she prayed: “Lord, I can’t. You’re going to have to do this through me.” She stretched out her hand, spoke words of forgiveness, and felt God’s love flow through her to do what she could not.

God can enable you to love and forgive when it feels humanly impossible.

That’s the power of Christ in us. Love doesn’t always mean reconciliation or trust. But it does mean allowing God to heal the wound by releasing it into His hands. That’s when His love fills the empty, broken places where hurt once lived.

Two things make us strong in prayer, counsels David Platt:

1. A deep sense of need.
2. A strong sense of God’s supply.

When we come to Him with both, we discover a love that abounds even in impossible places.

Drink Deep

Where has connection and love with others failed in your life? Bring that wound honestly before God. Ask Him to supply the love and forgiveness you cannot muster. Trust Him to fill the empty places with His healing presence.