God and I play a game on cloudy days.

Sunbeams have always been a method of communication between the two of us, a visible picture of God's love, flowing down from Heaven into my life. Every time I see a sunbeam, I hear a loud "I love you" from God.

And so on overcast days, I look to the sky and see if I can flash the sign language symbol for those three little words out the window and voice the verbal version of the same before I see sunlight streaming through a break in the cloud cover. And then I look to see what He has to say in reply.

I beat Him today! As I pulled onto the highway, an interesting formation in the clouds reminded me that this would be a perfect day for our game. So I quickly expressed my love in the methods described above, beating Him to the punch. And then I watched for His response.

Funny, it didn't come in the clouds this morning. I got to church, parked the car and hurried into the building for worship practice. Truth be told, I forgot that I was even looking for a specific message from God.

But He didn't forget. An hour later I was standing on the front steps of the church, drinking a cup of coffee and welcoming visitors and regular attendees alike. And suddenly I saw it. Right in front of the building, a car stopped at the stop sign on the corner. And there, written on the front passenger window were the three little words, "I love you."

I couldn't believe it! My mouth dropped open and my heart stopped beating for a second or two, I was so surprised! And then I laughed at how bewildered the owner of the vehicle must've been, wondering what on earth he was doing driving down that particular road at 10:20 on a Sunday morning, unwittingly delivering a love letter from God to a believer on the front steps of that church!

You know, I never really beat God at our game. Oh, He lets me have momentary victories like today. But He told me He loved me some 2000 years ago when He sent His Son to die for me. I'll simply never catch up in the love department, and that's okay. While I'm normally a pretty competitive person, this is one game I'm grateful to lose!

"We love Him because He first loved us."
(1 John 4:19)