Pouring Out Love
To regain our sanity in an insane world …
We are the sole engineers of our outcomes. Our destiny is never dictated by God, or by our environment, physical traits or abilities. Our life outcomes are the direct and indirect results of our many varied choices, which in some instances are further influenced by the related choices of those around us. “We deify our independence and self-will and call them by the wrong name. What God sees as stubborn weakness, we call strength.” (Oswald Chambers). The circumstances of our lives which too often hold us hostage, simply can’t influence the great power of our spirit unless we allow them to. These circumstantial choices are the most important ones we’ll ever make. The power of our spirit is completely independent of our circumstances, yet totally connected to the relative stature of God in our lives. As we age and trade off our youthful reliances for independence, we lose something very important in our lives. We lose both the need and desire to lean on God, thus limiting His influence with our choices. “Our Father who art in heaven …” never wants to be left out of our lives, that would be our choice, not His. “And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3, 4 NIV).
These relational words of our Lord embrace our dependence and condemn our spiritual independence. Not because the Lord wants to control us, but because He always loves and wants the very best for us. This should not be difficult to understand, but it may well be difficult for us to digest this unconditional commitment. We demonstrate our love for other people routinely and this is good. However, such human love must always take a seat behind the love we reveal for our maker and savior. Our loyalty to this God whom we don’t always understand is still primary over our loves for those we’ve chosen to know more intimately. Knowing God better is a lifetime assignment, not a spur of the moment awakening. Is it hard for us to love an invisible, complex, often silent Father? Of course it is. Just as it must be for that same Father to unconditionally love His arrogant, selfish, sinful children, but He does and so we must learn from Him. We must return to the innocence of our early childhoods, where we unthinkingly depended on others for our well being. Acknowledging our faults, seeking forgiveness and accepting the outcomes with the pouring out love of our Lord, will heal our broken spirits.
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE
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