You know what they say - every once in a while, a blind hog finds an acorn.  

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I’ll be honest, the deepest desire of my heart is that some of you - even just a few of you - are nodding along sagely right now. Ah yes, you say, I’ve heard this wisdom many times throughout my life. Unfortunately, though, I have come to accept the reality that you’re probably NOT nodding along. At best, you’re scratching your head, pretty sure I got a few words in the phrase wrong. At worst, you’re wondering who on earth let this country bumpkin get behind a keyboard and push the publish button!  

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My husband has assured me ad nauseam that my hog/acorn metaphor is NOT it. While he’d rather I didn’t say things like this at all - you’re so embarrassing! - he insists that if I do absolutely need to express the sentiment that, every once in a while, you stumble into something good, I absolutely MUST check my colloquialisms to make sure they’re right.  

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At this point though, evoking an eye-roll brings me too much delight, so I’m not changing my ways. I’ll say it loud and proud: Even bling hogs WILL occasionally find acorns!  

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But here’s the real truth this silly phrase helps me remember: While it might be true that, in this world, the best we can hope for is to occasionally stumble into something good, we have available to us the Creator of the Universe, a Father who wants so much more for his kids. He is not stingy. He does not withhold goodness to manipulate you. He is not an every once in a while kind of God. He is a God who lavishes.

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“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are!” (1 Jn. 3:1)

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This isn’t a blind hog stumbling across a single acorn. This is Scrat the Ice Age squirrel’s DREAM scenario. God lavishes his love on us with abundant goodness.  

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Do you see and trust God’s goodness that way? Like you’re just expecting it to rain down on you in any and every moment? I’ve realized lately that, for the almost 30 years I’ve been walking with Jesus, I haven’t really seen his love that way at all. I’ve lived hoping for acorns - hoping his favor might touch my life, reaching for it, striving for it…fearful his kindness might not be for me this time.  

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But lately, Jesus has been inviting me to recognize his goodness as an enduring reality, not something to stumble upon occasionally. That I can depend on and expect his kindness. That I can live as a child upon whom the Father’s great love has been lavished.

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This verse comes from the pen of the apostle John, one of the Twelve, Jesus’ best friends and closest apprentices. If anyone knew Jesus, it was John. Readers today sometimes give John a hard time for identifying himself exclusively in his gospel as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” But what if it wasn’t arrogance at all? What if John was just so aware of God’s deep, secure, all-encompassing love for him, that identifying himself by any other idea seemed absurd? His name? Not as important as God’s. His achievements, his titles, his notoriety as an apostle? Nah. Not important.  

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What if it all just paled in comparison to the reality of being dearly loved by Jesus? What if, at this point in his life, loved was the singular label by which John wanted to be known?  

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What about you - what if this kind of life - living deeply loved - was available to you, too?

One thousand years before John chose to be identified not by his own achievements, but simply by the love of the Father, God labeled King David similarly when he called him a man after my own heart (1 Sam. 13:14).  

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This same David wrote the blessing found in today’s passage, Psalm 20:1-5, and as you read it, I challenge you to shift your focus to dwell on the Father’s deep, enduring, and complete love for you, his kid.  

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May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
    

may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 

May he send you help from the sanctuary
    

and grant you support from Zion.

May he remember all your sacrifices
   

and accept your burnt offerings.

May he give you the desire of your heart
    

and make all your plans succeed.

May we shout for joy over your victory
    

and lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the Lord grant all your requests.

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When I read this passage with the mindset of just hoping to stumble across an acorn of God’s goodness, I feel the stress rise in my heart: What if this request is met with apathy? What if this desire of my heart goes unnoticed? What if God doesn’t answer me this time?  

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But that is not the heart space from which David wrote this prayer. Read it again, this time as “the one whom Jesus loves” and reflect on how David’s words might translate to our context today. Maybe, something like this:

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May you ask God for help every time you need it, because you know he’s there for you.  

May you rest confidently in his care, because he’s the biggest, realest one in your world.  

May you walk in alignment with his will, because you trust his voice completely.  

May you know he withholds no good thing from you, so open hands somehow still feel safe.

May you praise him every second, because you know your Father is the King of the Universe…

And you are HIS.  

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Father God - align our hearts with your own! May your love be the only thing that defines our lives - period. We love you; thank you for loving us first. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.