God’s love sometimes hurts Him more than you

Sometimes when life becomes incredibly difficult, it’s almost impossible to believe that it is out of God’s love for me that I am enduring the worst the world has to offer.

It takes serious reflection to come back to the basic truth that God loves me so much that when I stray from His purpose for my life, His mid-course correction can and sometimes is inexplicably (or so we want to believe) painful.

In other words, these are the consequences that I must endure because God is serious about getting my attention. I think we take day to day living as a mere matter of fact, rather than the true miracle and blessing that life is.

The matter of “factness” of what I’m talking about is the fact that we take life far to for granted as evidenced by our reaction to when our lives are threatened; when we’re at the end of our rope, when the temptation not to do God’s will is so strong that we don’t realize the sin we’ve just committed is just that, past tense.

It is then that we realize the precious gift of life. It is then that we call upon the Lord. I submit to you it is then that we internalize the consequences of not disobedience but our lack of focus on why this is

What

happening to me.

The bible is full of examples of saints who didn’t come to realize that God’s love for us will put us in the throes of despair, if that means we will focus our attention on His purpose for us.

Jesus knew this and in Gethsemane asked God to “remove this from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus knew what was coming and knew why it was coming and understood who would make the decision about His role and purpose.

We get lost sometimes. But allow me to simplify it this way. Satan wants me as a trophy and God wants me as an eternal testament to His love. This is a high stakes game of spiritual life and death. I don’t know if I’ve ever been this popular or have experienced such a high stakes game of life and death when it’s my life we’re talking about.

The danger of taking this life for granted is not knowing or understanding how precious I am to the Lord and how relentless Satan is at using this world to destroy my relationship with the Almighty.

I understand Satan wants to embarrass, humiliate and like a scorned lover, hurt the Lord. What better way to do this than to steal something, degrade something, ruin something that the devil knows the Lord loves. That would be me. In your case that would be you. Now if you add to that a casual view of life itself, you can see how easy it is to let the world destroy something it knows is priceless, but the owner doesn’t always see it that way.

So, I guess without knowing it, I am vulnerable; sometimes a victim of my own careless attitude. Like a child who unknowingly wanders off into a swamp, he or she has no idea of the dangers lurking there. Injury and death are but steps away. That’s how I feel sometimes. I know I’m in trouble. I know I’m lost. I know if I’m not vigilant and consistent, the devil will take me out and celebrate at the wake. Therefore, like a weekend athlete, I know I must train. I know I must be prepared. I know the game is out there. But sometimes I just don’t want to work that hard. I just want to be left alone.

Can you see how that frame of mind can get you killed? Can you see how that rather mundane thought can spell trouble?

The bible is full of references to those who would be seduced, abducted, tricked and persecuted for not being true to the Word of God. God Himself expresses frustration at times about those who would willingly forget, or unwillingly choose not to remember who He is and who they belong to.

The consequences can be catastrophic. So what’s the answer when you’re just not feeling it? Get into the Word. What’s the solution to being lost in this world? Get into the Word. What’s the defense for Satan’s temptations? Get into the Word and form an offense of testimony.

I guess this is a good time to suggest to you that my dilemma on this when I find myself out of sync, is to simply realize that I am, well, out of sync.

The answer is to be deliberate in the effort to find my way home. You know when you’re determined, you can’t be distracted. There are some qualities that we all possess that arm us for this fight.

Recognition, understanding, desire and discipline come to mind. Together, focused on the Word, they guarantee victory for God and humiliation for the devil.

Sometimes it just takes the will to fight, and the understanding that the war is over. We win. If you don’t believe me, just ask Jesus. Better yet. Just ask the devil. Remind him that you are a child of the most-high. Always was. Always will be. It’s a family love thing.

May God bless and keep you always.