Indefatigable Love

Indefatigable. As in “[God] remembered to love us, a bonus to His dear family, Israel – indefatigable love.” [The MESSAGE, Psalm 98:3] Indefatigable! Okay, so even with my love of the English language, I could not come up with a definition that would describe God’s love for us. I looked up.

Indefatigable: incapable of being tired out; not yielding to fatigue, untiring.

WOW!! Yes. I am shouting, shouting out with praise and thanksgiving for a God – for anyone in my life – who is never going to tire of loving me. In reality, although I may look for this kind of love from other people, only God can fully meet this need in my life. I know people want to love me without yielding to fatigue, but only God can do it. Let’s face it, I can be very tiring. So can you.

I also know that I am not able to totally, completely, without tiring, love the people in my life. Each person, including myself, has things, quirks, which are very annoying to others. Some are little things like how to fold towels or wash the dishes (my husband adjusted to my way of folding towels; I adjusted to his way of washing the dishes). No big deal. Compromise is a necessary component of all relationships.

Yet there are some things for which no compromise is available. Loving another while being faced with major changes in the scope and nature of the relationship is tiring, and loving the person and/or situation is beyond us. Thank God, His love never fails. Thank God, He can shore us up and give us the love we need to love others. Thank God, He stood by my husband, kids, friends, siblings, and parents, loving them as they tried to love the “new but not necessarily better” me.

Mental illness. Acute mental illness. Definitely a major change affecting every relationship. Adjustments were needed in every relationship and in dealing with the effects of living with a person struggling with Bipolar Disorder. Sometimes, often, I am not the “same” person my husband married: confident, organized, resourceful, able to multitask, creative, and stoic. I’m not saying those characteristics are never present in my life, but sometimes I need help to even get started on a project. A major adjustment was/is required by my family and all other relationships. Yet they still do their best to love me, and God is there, untiringly, not giving into fatigue, to help them. And more importantly, God loves me with complete abandon, no matter my quirks.