You have heard
that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you,
love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be
children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil
and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:43-45 (NIV)
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| In my quest to be like Him, I want to be Love, you know, the thing that God is. Tweet this quote |
This is a true story. One of my closest
friends called today to share that a friend reached out with a request for
prayer. (This is nothing new; we pray frequently, for family and friends,
friends of friends, neighbors, acquaintances, etc. It is what we do.) The request was specific;
it included mention, by name, of a person identified as an obstacle to the
blessing, asking that the obstacle be removed. In faith, my friend offered an
earnest plea that God’s Will would be done. The response was not what she
anticipated. The person making the request chided her for not following the
specific instructions in the request, and remarked that if the prayer could not
be offered as requested, she would have done better to not pray at all. This
is a true story. She needs Jesus, I’m just sayin’…
I was deeply
troubled. In my quest to achieve surrender, I daily acknowledge that I know not
the Will of God. In my quest to be obedient, I daily acknowledge that He is
able to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians
3:20). I was deeply troubled, because I completely understood my friend’s
prayer, but I did not understand the way it was received.
I struggled. I
sought counsel from people I trust. I called a friend with whom I’ve prayed and
studied for several years; needing to understand why I felt so uneasy, why my
spirit found no peace with what I’d heard. Now I know why…neither the request
nor the response to the prayer sounded at all like love. You know love, the thing that God is?
In my quest to be
like Him, I want to be Love, you know, the thing that God is. I aspire to a love “stronger than pride;” love that just
is. Not love as a noun, but love as an
action verb. Love done quietly, a
whisper rather than a shout. Love done
quietly, consistently, a daily obligation.
I was deeply troubled, but thank God, I’ve learned the lesson.
Because we are nothing more than forgiven, because we are nothing more than
sinners saved by Grace, benefitting from a God who saw beyond our faults to meet
our needs, we should love (we should be love) in the face of confusion. We
should love in the midst of craziness.
We should love when it makes no sense, because while we may not
understand it, we are commanded to love.
We are commanded to trust that He knows more, and all of it, even the
insanity, is part of His plan.
So, I’m not troubled anymore…I was reminded of a t-shirt I saw
recently, which read “You need Jesus,
I’m just sayin’.” That is my final word on the matter. Beyond that, I am
convicted to show love and be love and act and speak of love, come what may.
Because He is able to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,”
I’m staying in my lane, in order to let Him do the driving. Knowing your
calling…just another reminder that God is good.
Today I am praying and playing with Sandra Heska King in Still Saturday at http://www.sandraheshaking.com
