My Wife shared with me the discipline of looking for a love sign before I heard it from Pastor Robert Herber of All Peoples Church directly. Apparently, his friend in college came back and mentioned he had been seeing his love sign that day and was super encouraged. Robert started to pursue asking God for his own and God gave him a picture of a red balloon. Well, one day shortly after Robert saw the red balloon, he walked into a room and there in the room were a ton of red balloons. Over many years later, that seemingly random encounter happens time and again for him and every time it reminds him that God loves him and is celebrating him. I never found Robert to be boasting about himself in this. Rather, I had a sense Robert found direction, identity, and belonging that God instilled in him over time. So, over time, I too have implemented this practice in my life as a way of hearing from God that He loves me. My hope is you will also seek love signs from Him.
One day I was out with my son doing a mini retreat. We were in a local canyon on the outskirts of Balboa Park near our home. It was March and had been probably one of the wettest winters in the south western United States. The whole canyon was alive with lush green growth from all that rain. I was spending time seeking God when my son started to share with me about clovers. It’s no wonder that it was near St. Patrick’s Day and my Wife had been giving our kids lessons on St. Patrick and the famous method he used to tell people about God, the 3 leaf clover. Sure enough on that day, the canyon was filled with 3 leafed clovers.
My son started to explain to me what he was learning about the clovers and how Patrick used them to share about the Trinity. I loved hearing from him what he was learning about God. He showed me each leaf was shaped like a heart. It was then I realized the beauty of this moment in that the living God, the Creator, was communicating His love to all humanity. St. Patrick, my Wife, and my Son saw it but it became new to me that day. It became a love sign.
” …..the living God, the Creator, was communicating his love to all humanity.
Scripture says “[t]he heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge” (Ps. 19:1-2 NIV). The Creation, in this case the sky, the stars, and the beauty declare God’s uniqueness, His beauty, His creativity, His power.
I believe the 3 leafed, heart shaped clover is another testament to the glory of God’s goodness. The object lesson of the Trinity, endowed with it’s particular leaf shape, speaks an important message from our Creator, “we are all loved”.
My 5 year old son prompted me that day that we need to go share this with our friends at our outreach. He wanted us to go and share this love sign with them. My heart was full, as a dad, but also as an adopted son, adopted because of the choosing of the Heavenly Father, the only begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit. And you know, I started seeing those clovers everywhere. They were all over the canyon, they were near our condo. They were on our walks. They were in the Park.
My mind has been convinced that God is constantly trying to tell us, even to show us, and perhaps remind us, that we are loved by Him. He is hoping that we will turn away from life on our own, to life with Him.
I want to invite you to join in and ask God for a love sign. You can use the 3 leaf clover. You can ask Him directly, like Pastor Robert has done. Get that direction and prayerfully look for it. Let it come to you. Over time, God can use this sign of his love to consistently remind you of who He really is and what sorta love He carries for you all.
” I want to invite you to join in and ask God for a love sign .
One thing is for sure God loves you. He wants to keep affirming that for you. And, though I believe we find it in all Creation, we especially find it in the great length Jesus went to to show us as He bore the penalty of sin and the shame of the World on the Cross.
