[This reflection by Helen Ruffhead was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 03/May/2026]
Have you ever poured out your love on someone who didn’t want it? Perhaps you fell in love with someone who wasn’t interested. I remember when I had that experience many years ago, what helped me most was (heresy alert) not a Bible verse but hearing Gloria Gaynor’s song “I will survive”. The message about surviving and saving my love for someone who loves me has inspired me ever since I first heard it 47 years ago.
Long ago I read in a book on singleness that God tells us to give him our hearts because he wants to protect us. He is the only one we can trust with our hearts, as he will always love us and will never spurn or be indifferent to our love. After half a century as a single adult I can say that God has been better than a husband to me and the children he has given me through adoption have brought me far more love than I have ever given them.
Perhaps the most painful experience of all is when someone who once loved you now rejects you. The pain felt can be even greater than that of losing a loved one through death. I believe the best comfort is to know that Jesus understands, as he has been through the pain of having his love rejected or ignored by people he loved enough to die a horrific death for them.
Our recent series on prayer has reminded me how we can hurt God by spending so little time in prayer and spending most of that time asking him for things.
During my childhood, my father was often away on business trips and when he returned home there were usually things that we needed him to mend. My mother had to remind me not to mention these things the minute he returned, but to spend time with him first, enjoying his company and listening to him, before asking him to mend the things that had broken or help me with homework. I need to do the same with my Heavenly Father, who longs for us to return his love and enjoy his presence.
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Last Sunday’s reflection: What If I Don’t Even Know How To Begin? by Dennis Ginter
Contributed by Helen Ruffhead; © Helen Ruffhead