Who Is This?

"How big is the universe? asks Alicia Larde (Jennifer Connolly) of John Forbes Nash, Jr. (Russell Crowe) in the movie A Beautiful Mind as the couple gaze at the stars during a date.

Nash, who is Larde's professor, responds, "Infinite."

"How do you know for sure?," says Alicia.

Nash says, "I don't. I just believe."

"It's the same with love I guess," Larde replies.

Love is not the only thing on Nash's mind. One of the fears that Nash has is that he will not come up with a truly original idea in his profession. He pushes himself relentlessly in pursuit of his truly original idea.

Abram, who God later names Abraham, was afraid that he would not have a child. In response to his fear, God said to Abram in a dream recorded in Genesis 15:1 Amplified Bible, ". . . Fear not, Abram, I am your Shield, your abundant compensation, and your reward shall be exceedingly great."

God and Abram also do some stargazing. Genesis 15:5 Complete Jewish Bible says, "Then he brought him outside and said, “Look up at the sky, and count the stars — if you can count them! Your descendants will be that many!”"

Larde and Nash date and marry. Abram and God are already married. However, everyone but God has a lot to learn about love. 1 John 4:18-19 Amplified Bible says, "There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection]. We love Him, because He first loved us."

Nash is so smart and strangely sexy. Larde initiates their relationship and is excited about her catch. However, it isn't long after marrying that Nash exhibits truly bizarre behavior.

Nash seemed so capable when Larde married him. Later Larde and others discover that Nash has paranoid schizophrenia. He often has delusional dreams that he avidly participates in and at times his mental illness prohibits him from working and performing sexually. In one scene Larde screams in the bathroom after Nash refuses sexual relations.

Instead of waiting for God to open his wife's, Sarah's, womb, in fulfillment of God's promise to bless Abraham and Sarah's lovemaking with a child, Abraham agrees to have sex with Hagar, Sarah's maid. Ishmael is conceived from Hagar's and Abraham's sinful, extra-marital, sexual relationship.

Later when Ishmael is an adolescent, Sarah asks Abraham to cast Ishmael and Hagar out of Sarah's and Abraham's home. Abraham is hurt, but God says this is His will, and God will make a great nation of Ishmael.

Even though God does not always do what Abraham expects, he remains in love with God. Even though Nash is deeply ill and dysfunctional, Larde remains in love with Nash. Larde doesn't divorce Nash.

We can find ourselves in relationships that at times we ask something like, "Who is this?" When people don't behave the way we expect, it can be hard to take, and some take off.

But the love of God operating inside believers seeks to grow and overcome the obstacles of relationships. 1 Corinthians 13:7 Amplified Bible says, "Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]."

One day the pain and disappointment in this life's relationships will cease and something far superior will commence. Revelations 21:3-4 New Living Translation promises, "I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”"

What is any trouble in this life's relationships compared to the ecstasy of relating with God face to face forever?

A Yoruba of Nigeria proverb says, "One should keep one's eyes on one's destination, not on where one stumbled."