Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Pursuing Love

On Tuesday mornings we have staff prayer in our pastor's office. We pray about needs in the church, upcoming events, and basically whatever we feel led to pray about. Last week, just before we finished, Dave (my pastor) prayed for my husband and me. I was a little surprised, because we hadn't prayed for any other staff members. But hey, I'll take it, right? Later that night I had a long talk with a dear friend, who asked to pray for me before we parted. Two in one day! Since I didn’t feel like there was anything in particular that I was going thru at the moment, I was beginning to get a little paranoid that God was preparing me for some kind of trial or something (why do we always expect the worst?).

So the next morning during my quiet time I was thinking about that, as well as the hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” which some friends and I had been discussing recently. Especially the “prone to wander” part of the last verse. And I remembered a song by Chris Rice that has a chorus that says, “How can I be so prone to wander, so prone to leave You, so prone to die? And how can You be so full of mercy – You race to meet me and bring me back to life.” And I realized that it wasn’t that God was equipping me for some coming trial, but that my heart toward Him had been lukewarm, and He was pursuing me to bring me back to Him. Oh how He loves us! I was sitting there during my quiet time just amazed at how personally and individually the God of all creation woos us, drawing us close to Him. Even though I was not rebellious, or wayward, or bitter, my heart had gradually turned from Him, and He so desired intimacy with me that He used other people to get my attention.

I flipped thru my CD’s, looking for that Chris Rice CD, but could only find one with hymns on it. Fortunately, “Come Thou Fount” was on it, so I decided to listen to that instead. After that song was over, I just left the CD on. I couldn’t believe it when the next song was “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go.” I’m not even that familiar with that hymn, so I looked it up in a hymnal. Isn’t that just like God to MAKE SURE I got the message of His pursuing love? If He would allow His own Son to be crucified in order to reconcile us to Himself, would He not make sure we knew how much He loves us? If we have ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart that truly desires Him over all else, I believe He WILL speak to us. Every believer ought to have an inner "photo album," or maybe scrapbook is a better term, for the mementos God has given us along our earthly journey to remind us how abundantly, how deeply, how personally He loves each one of us.

Maybe that's why I call this blog, Postcards from the Journey, to share some of my mementos of God's faithfulness, wisdom and love!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Lovable

Recently I was thanking God for how much He loves me, and just thinking about how His love transforms me. And I realized that because He loves me, I am made lovable. There is nothing in me—no personality trait, no goodness, no kindness, no amiability, no wisdom—that would make anyone else love me. There is nothing in my natural self that has any worth, apart from Him. Nothing that anyone would desire or delight in except for the good things I have been given by Him, or have learned from Him, or have experienced in Him.

As I meditated on that, I realized that the things I love most in other people are really reflections of God. Since we are made in His image, those things that draw me to others are really qualities that God has, and has planted in them. Whether a friend has a great sense of humor, or a family member has wisdom and insight, or when I sense a kinship with another Christian, it really is God’s image represented in them that attracts me and seals our relationship. If God is love, as His Word says, than all real love is founded in Him, and He delights when His children experience Him through loving relationships.

So when I think of my family and friends, those with whom I have really good relationships, I am doubly thankful. Not just that God brought them into my life, but that He has given me the capability to have relationship with them. That I have people to share life with, to laugh with, to pray with, to give me advice, to hold me accountable, and to walk with me on this journey. That God in me reaches out to God in them – deep cries out to deep. So that we can go beyond shallow acquaintances and move into something real, lasting, refreshing and of genuine worth.

God’s love makes me loving and lovable, and He’s doing the same in you!

Friday, March 26, 2010

I am currently hosting a women's study group in my house every week. We're going through the book, "Confessions of a Good Christian Girl," by Tammy Maltby (I highly recommend it). This week's chapter was on the issue of striving - constantly doing more and trying to be better at everything. Yet we feel insignficant and cannot find rest. I shared this with the "good Christian girls" last night.

Let’s take a look at water. It is the universal solvent, and is necessary to sustain all forms of life. We use it to hydrate our bodies, clean our houses, irrigate our crops, water our animals, extinguish our fires and launder our clothes. We find recreation at pools, waterslides, rivers, lakes and beaches by the sea. Water is a coolant in our engines and air conditioning systems. It supplies food directly (fish and seafood) and indirectly. We use it in cooking. Artists use it in watercolors and sculpture, pottery and mosaics. It even carries away our waste.

Yes, every living thing depends on water. Often, in our daily lives we feel like everything depends on US. We’re the soccer mom, cook, employee, committee member, wife, friend, sister, teacher, chauffer, and, of course, good Christian girl. For some of us, we strive to excel in every area, and constantly feel like failures when we can’t deliver. We can’t be the best at every role we play, yet we keep trying, working harder, doing more, setting higher standards—all the while smiling brighter and taking on even more.

Well, we can’t do it all. Tammy Maltby wrote, “We feel inadequate because we are inadequate.” That’s right. God made us inadequate to take on the world and solve every problem and meet every need. That’s His job. Even He doesn’t keep everyone happy all the time, yet we try to. We strive to feel significant because of all we accomplish, all we contribute, all we do. But we can never be more significant than who we are, or rather whose we are. We are significant, important, worthy and special because God is our Maker, Father and Friend. Nothing we do can add to that.

So, going back to the water. I believe God gives each of us various resources—gifts, talents, personality traits, physical and mental abilities, relationships and education. Out of these resources we are to take care of our families, keep ourselves healthy, and minister to others (either in formal ministry or in our day-to-day lives). We are to be responsible citizens, safe drivers and good friends. Most of all, we are to live as children of God. Yet our resources are limited. It’s like having a bucket of water. Water is necessary for so many things, yet we cannot do everything that is needed with what is in our bucket. We may have enough drinking water for a day, or enough water to mop the floor, or maybe water the lawn. But God is the ocean. He can take care of all the necessities around us that we cannot stretch ourselves enough to fill.

So each day we should ask Him how He wants us to spend the resources we have. Maybe reading a book with your child is more important that day than cleaning the window blinds. We don’t have to do both, although we often try. Resting in God doesn’t mean we don’t do anything; it means we only do what is necessary for this time. He will refill our buckets as necessary. It may be the outpouring of His Spirit in a worship service, or the gentle rain of a friend’s encouragement, or the dewy freshness of seeing a scripture passage in a whole new way. And when it seems like life is demanding more than you’ve got to give, and your bucket looks dangerously empty, remember to stand on the promise that God gave: “My grace is sufficient for you,” (2 Corinthians 12:9). That’s true for your bucket as well as everyone else’s.