Public Displays of Affection

Jeremiah 33:3- ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ NKJV

Growing up, I don’t recall ever hearing the phrase “public display of affection”. But when I went to college, I remember walking into my dorm and noticing a sign that warned against PDAs. As I continued to read the sign, it didn’t take me long to realize that PDA was an acronym for the phrase “public display of affection”. Decades ago, that sign may have been adhered to, but in today’s society, it would probably be ignored or openly mocked! A couple of Sundays ago, our pastor made a statement that God loves times of public displays of His affection towards His people. That got me thinking about how good God is, and I knew that I would be writing a post about the public displays of His affection!

Immediately I thought of the Exodus! Didn’t God show public displays of His affection towards the children of Israel?

 …If you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land.

Exodus 8:21-22NKJV

Now God doesn’t specifically state that He did this great feat because of His affection towards the children of Israel, but it certainly qualifies as His power on display for them! After this happened, the rest of the plagues didn’t come near the people of God! He did it publicly, and He did it for them! Then He sent the death angel to kill the firstborn in the land of Egypt, but the blood separated the children of God from them, and none of God’s people experienced death! And if that wasn’t enough, He pushed back the waters of the Red Sea for them! It doesn’t matter how many times I read or hear about it; I am still absolutely fascinated with the truth that God parted waters for them to cross over on the dry ground.

Joshua experienced the public display of God’s affection.

So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. 

Joshua 6:20 NKJV

It was in the shout of obedience! Absolutely! But the shout didn’t bring those walls down! God did! Had God not been involved in the plan, the walls would not have fallen! But God was on a mission to show His people and those around them that He was the God of Israel and His affections were toward them.

For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name.

Isaiah 62:1-2 NKJV

Isaiah spoke of the heart of God in this chapter. For the sake of Zion, God’s Church, He would not hold His peace or rest until the world sees how much He loves her! The world will notice the righteousness of the people of God and the glory God has placed on them! This means that what God will do in His people and through His people will be seen by others!

So what did God do to openly show His affection for us?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

John 3:16-17 NKJV

For all to see, Jesus came into the world to be God’s public display of affection toward us! God went so far as to do this while we were yet in our sins (Romans 5:8)! And then He allowed Jesus to die on the cross for those sins to reconcile us to Himself! Openly! Publicly! He took our sins in His own body so that we could obtain the righteousness that God spoke of through Isaiah (See 1 Peter 2:24). Wonderful Savior!

I can recall times in my life when God publicly displayed His affection toward me spiritually and naturally! Times when people thought they had me all figured out, boxed in, and down for the count, but God!

One such occasion was when I got married. There were people who just wanted me to get married to get on with my life. There were people who wanted me to get married so they could watch me fail at marriage. And there were some people who didn’t want me to get married at all because they enjoyed watching me do life alone! But God stepped into the situation and gave me a godly man who I could do life with! And our wedding was in front of all of those people! Well, most of them! Because some of them didn’t attend because of the jealousy they had in their hearts! I was even given a timeframe before I would have problems with him and needed counseling! I’ve passed that timeframe by thirty years! When God steps in!

I remember when we moved into our home. It was one of the smallest houses on the block. As a matter of fact, one of my neighbors told me that when she was looking for a home, they had looked at our home, and they didn’t like it! She criticized it, and I could tell by her tone she felt like I wasn’t much, just like my house wasn’t much. But what she didn’t know was that God had that house on the market for 5 years waiting for us. And several people wanted that house, but it was our house! It was being held for us! And she thought she didn’t like it because it was beneath her, but she didn’t like it because it wasn’t for her! After we moved in, a stranger knocked on the door to see who had bought the house that he wanted! Oh well! It was our home! I won’t go into more of what the naysayers had to say about it, but we have made this house our home. And we love it! So….?

Sometimes God will bless us in such a way that others can’t appreciate it! That’s okay! Pharaoh wasn’t all that impressed with what God was doing through the plagues, but God had the last word on the situation! And His children were set free! Don’t look for the spectacular as a measuring rod for God’s display of affection in your life! Look for the things that mattered so much to you that when God stepped in, you knew that it was only God!

While I love the public displays of God’s affection for me, I love those times when no one but God and I know what He did, even more! They speak to my heart more than the big things that others can see. They assure me that He understands me in ways that I sometimes don’t understand myself. And when He is finished, I can publicly stand firm in the confidence of His love for me. Unlike my dorm, where public displays of affection was not allowed, in the Kingdom of God, they are very much allowed! For His love is always on display towards us! Wonderful Jesus!