“Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:39

The love of God is something I have never been able to wrap my mind around. I never think I, or anyone else in this world, will truly be able to grasp the greatness of His love. We, as humans, cannot comprehend what it is to love totally and completely selfless, without condition. There almost always seems to be a condition.

This is what I grew up believing in my relationship with God, if you could call it that. I had the fear of the Lord ingrained in me ever since I was a little girl. But that was all. God was someone you didn’t want to make angry. If you sinned, you’d better start repenting. That was all I really knew of God.

In my DTS, I began to see glimpses of God’s unconditional love, not only for me, but for the world. God showed me this through a friend of mine in DTS. She was a young, vibrant, 21-year-old woman. Yet, she had cancer. How could this be? She did NOTHING to deserve this. I wrestled through this with God. There was snot and tears everywhere. I was yelling at God, wondering where He was in this brokenness.

I was yelling at God, wondering where He was in this brokenness.

His answer was clear. “Taryn, cancer doesn’t define Hannah. Cancer doesn’t define me or my love. Cancer doesn’t win. Hannah has hope in Me. No matter what the outcome, Hannah has life in me and that can never be taken away. I love her, and I have her. There has never been a moment when I have been out of control. I am her hope.”
I was overcome in this moment by God’s love for Hannah and the understanding that she was not alone. I also became aware of the truth that I was not alone. God was with me. His love for me was not conditional based on my circumstances or my ability to uphold ‘perfection’. I am forever held in his love and forever held in his hope and promise.

“Taryn, cancer doesn’t define Hannah. Cancer doesn’t define me or my love. Cancer doesn’t win. Hannah has hope in Me. No matter what the outcome, Hannah has life in me and that can never be taken away. I love her, and I have her. There has never been a moment when I have been out of control. I am her hope.”

It was at this moment that God directed my eyes to a nearby map. Being in YWAM, you don’t have to look far to find a world map. God spoke to me again so clearly, “Taryn, there are so many people out there who do not have My hope. They are facing things like cancer. They are facing injustices without Me, because they do not know Me.”

This was my commissioning. This was my awakening to the fact that there is a great need in our world, our country, our cities. People are facing unbearable things alone, because they are unaware of the love of their Father. That is not okay.

This is the day that I said “Jesus, SEND ME. I want to be a messenger of Your love & hope to the nations. I don’t want to hide this light under a basket, but I want to share it for all to see. Unafraid and unashamed.”

This is the time I became forever changed. You see, when you catch a glimpse of your Creator’s unconditional and radical love, you cannot walk away unchanged.

Written by Taryn Honcoop