Rejected love

The bridegroom stands in the dark, damp, evening air, knocking on the door of the chamber of his beloved. She hesitates to open up. After all she had experienced an earlier encounter with him and she was satisfied. Though he longed for more moments of intimacy with her, she made up trite excuses, causing him to depart.

Song of Songs 5 describes the painful experience of rejected love. The Bridegroom represents Christ, the beloved the Church. This picture of divine love is described elsewhere in scripture.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Revelations 3.20

The Laodicean church is spoken of in this verse. Christ, the bridegroom stands at the door of intimate relationship with them. However they are not interested. Probably because they had other things to catch their fancies. God states in earlier verses that because of their lukewarm attitude towards him, he would spew them out of his mouth. This is not a pretty sight, yet it shows the hurts of rejected love. I can’t imagine if my wife were to lock me out of our room how I would feel? Or even to choose not to communicate with me. My mind would be racked with troubling thoughts. What would go through her mind to cause her to do this? How have I hurt her? Why does she have animosity towards me? If this persists I would wonder who and what else has captured her heart. My heart would be broken because of this shattering rejection of my love

God, almighty our heavenly lover is thinking about you, but how much of God can you really handle? You may be like the bride, where she was satisfied with a few moments of intimacy, and desired a break from God. Yet God was not tired of her. I like that thought. God tires not of us. In fact Psalms says God is ever mindful of me. That’s always and forever he is thinking about me, and the book of Songs indicates the kind of thoughts. Thoughts of desire, pursuit, intimacy and heartfelt affection are what fill his mind. Like the bridegroom and the beloved, he loves me with an enduring, endless love.

So what is an appropriate response to this unthinkable divine romance? How do I act and what do I do? For the bride the expected response would have been to let her lover in. The same is for us. God expects us to let him in. We let God in simply by answering his frequent beckonings at the door of our hearts. God knocks on our hearts when we are drawn to a song that spontaneously come to mind, or when we awaken fully alert in the middle of the night. He draws us by a call to the prayer room, or an urge to stay late and pray through the night. Every day he whispers words of invitation as we come to that quiet time with him. Whatever you do, however you respond, may I urge you to let him in. Listen to that tugging, go to that prayer time, and play or sing that song that’s in your heart. Slowly, but surely the attractive lure of carnal fancies will dissipate at the shining splendour of his presence that will readily fill your heart.