A Meet-Cute with Your Maker

A meet-cute (as defined by google) - an amusing or charming chance encounter between two strangers that leads to the development of a romantic relationship between them. 

Meet-Cutes. Many of our favourite rom coms have them.

Notting Hill, Sleepless in Seattle, The Holiday.

My personal favourite meet-cute is in Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo and Juliet, as the star crossed lovers catch one another eyes through the opposite sides of the fish tank.  

These are the stories that have us waking up with rose-tinted glasses, hopping out of our houses and hoping with every corner turned for a chance encounter with the man of our dreams. It has us peeking over the top of our books in coffee shops to see whether he has walked through the door or has noticed you sitting in the corner ‘minding your business’. 

However, inevitably, over time and with age, this dream dissipates. We realise that the strangers we bump into at coffee shops are not our predestined soul mates. We realise that we stand in a world, populated by over 7 billion other people. We are not the main character and we are each as lost and confused as the next person. 

Valentines Day has always frustrated me as it sits bang in the middle of an already depressing month and seems to be reliant on putting other people down in order that those in relationships can feel special and celebrated. For those, like myself, who haven’t had that Hollywood moment, it is a reminder that we aren’t valuable enough or we aren’t fortunate enough to participate in this holiday. However cynical and pessimistic this might sound, for many this is a just a reality. 

However, as I have gotten older, a new truth has dawned upon me which has put pep back into my step, and a rosey haze back into my outlook. 

I’ve already had my meet-cute moment. 

Acts 17:24-27

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

In this instance, this (not-so) chance encounter is with our predestined soul mate. Since the beginning of time, our creator has purposefully placed us on earth, in the year 2021, in our designated country, in our designated city, on our computer or phone or laptop, reading this article so that we might perhaps reach out and find him. 

Paul is telling the true story of the creator of the world, who has designed our inner most beings and hopes everyday that his creation might look at the world around them and turn back to him. 

But why has he done this?

If we are honest with ourselves, the reasons we hope for chance encounters with dashing young strangers, is because we are coming from a place of need. We all want to connect, to feel that bit more grounded and to feel as if our lives have that bit more purpose and value. We want to feel needed and to feel that we are not the only ones looking out for ourselves. We can feel this especially in this lockdown as often we can feel isolated, navigating the world by ourselves.

However, God is not like us. The scripture reads that he does not live in temples built by human hands and he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything. 

Wait … so why would he want to meet us so much if he doesn’t need anything from us? 

The answer is, because he knows we need him. 

We live a confused kind of Christianity when our relationship with God is dependent on what we bring to him. God is self-sufficient, he is the ultimate giver, he doesn’t need anything from us. 

The advertisement that God is plastering across the newspaper headlines, across our TV Screens, across the billboard is not ‘Love Wanted’ but rather ‘Love Available’. 

We have nothing to offer God, but he still wants to us. He loves us more than we know and loved us way before we even knew. He organised our times and places so that we might ‘perhaps’ reach out to him and find him, although he is not far from us. Even now.

Maybe this is your meet-cute moment. God is reaching out. You just need to decide whether you want to reach back.