It's been a while since I have posted here... it certainly is not because God and I haven't been talking. In fact, our relationship has been very active. But, I have been very busy at work, at church, at home. It has been a bit overwhelming...just plain busy. I am going to go out on a limb and assume a few of you out there know what I am talking about. And, there is no way I can go back over the last few months and explore all the things that I have wrestled with, failed at, and discovered. So, I'll just share what's up today...
This morning, out on the couch on the back porch, I was just bouncing all the things in my head that have been going on in my life, trying to focus on what God might be saying to me, and the one thought that pierced through the murkiness was "grace". I am not sure it was God telling me to stop and be grateful for His grace, or if it was me just thinking about how many times I have failed, or just done what I wanted without seeking Him, and yet He was still there with me... still willing to listen to my heart, willing to love me. A cool breeze of grace poured over me, and I was reminded of the very basic of basics: God loves me.
Can you say it with me? Out loud? Ready? One, two, three: "God loves me."
The absolute immensity of that truth is perhaps the most overlooked, underestimated truth in the universe. God - all powerful, all knowing, all seeing, ever present, perfect God...loves little, bitty, frail, foolish, stubborn, sinful me (...and you.) From a scientific approach - it's ridiculous. God doesn't need anything and we can only give Him that which He created to begin with. Yet, He wants a relationship with us. Not like a pet, spontaneously purchased at the side of the road on the way home from the grocery store, at once enjoyed and entertaining, and later, after a time, just an annoyance that requires a minimum amount of attention. But rather, like a child, born of a mother once thought barren, cherished through every smile, every cry, every first step, first tooth, first word, first grade, first love... Stop, as I did this morning, and really think about that. And so, the word "Grace" echoed deep in my heart, reverberating through my entire soul. And even that thought, that realization of His love, is a gift of grace.
Does God, my Father, have a blind eye toward my sin. my failures, my outright disobedience? Or is every single "bad" thing that happens a punishment, doled out tit for tat by a score keeper who makes absolutely sure we are aware of our every mistake. The verses that shout out to me this morning are in Ephesians chapter 2... a stunning chapter worth the read. Worth memorizing, for that matter. The whole chapter is a heart's cry of a Father who longs to have His children understand the depth of His love. Following are the first 9 verses:
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."
There are books written about the depths of this passage. I encourage you to memorize it... and I pledge to do so as well. Even as I cut and pasted it into this post, as I read it, I was stirred with gratitude of a Holy God who loves me that much. I was dead in my sin, and He intervened into my life and rescued me. He made me alive, fully knowing the depth of my failures of the past, and my rebellion in the future. Not with a blind eye, my friends, but with a heart big enough to love me through my sin, my rebellion, my failures.. With compassion of a Perfect Father, He interacts with me in my life, day by day, moment by moment, drawing me into a deeper love relationship. He encourages me to be the man He created me to be. He forgives me when I fall, which is far too often. He answers my prayers perfectly. He leads me through difficulties, and even uses those times in my life to grow me, draw me, shape me, love me.
The song says, "Grace flows down and covers me." It is amazing. I am simply amazed. My hope for you is that you are amazed too. The God of the universe is with You, longing to amaze you. He knows everything about you, and yet, He longs to "seat you in the heavenly realms with Christ" and give you the life you have always wanted. Not necessarily a life of success in the world's eyes - but an abundant, meaningful life. A life of joy unspeakable, and purpose. A life not measured by what you have done and will do, but a life set free of the burdens of failures and the entanglement of sin. A life overwhelmed by Grace flowing down. That is real. That is real life.
Seek Him, and He will be right there. Father loves you, not based on your value in your own eyes, but simply because He does.
