Matthew 5: 43-45 "[Love for Enemies] "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 sons 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".
1 Corinthians 13: 1-3 "[Love] If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing".
Imagine, though, if we all did love our enemies, and our prayers moved God's heart and change was brought about in the lives of those who hurt us and they turned from their wicked ways to love the people they encounter, wouldn't that be amazing? Many times I think I'm just an idealist and what I hope for the world is an impossibility. But then I remember that my hopes reflect a tiny bit of God's heart of restoration and reconciliation and that He urges us to pray for these people to see them return to Him. In my selfishness, I often desire for the people who do hurtful things to be punished. For those I have come to resent or fear, I don't long to see them enjoy eternity with God. But God sees my sin the way I see theirs. Sin is sin and it disgusts and grieves Him. If in His grace He has saved me, then I have to reach my hand out to save others. And really, if you think about it, if I were to reach out and they were to get saved and be transformed in their character, then I would have no reason left to hate them or wish them gone from the face of the earth. So really, I am effectively delaying the materialisation of my "ideal world" by neglecting to pray for those that I, in my self righteousness, have deemed unworthy of forgiveness. I'm not God. That's not my call to make. So back to fighting on my knees in prayer.
Afterthoughts:
God's grace, to me, is unfathomable. I can't even begin to grasp the depth of it. I always ask Him why He created the world because He's effectively self sufficient. He doesn't need to be loved or worshipped. And though He knew how the world would turn out, how sin would come in and He'd have to allow for absolute goodness and absolute evil to exist along with free will, how He would eventually lose many who ultimately choose eternity without Him, He counted it worthwhile to go ahead with creation and the cost He paid on the cross.
Though He allows us to endure terrible pain and suffering in life, and tells us we can view ourselves worthy of persecution for His name sake. Though, through it all, He tells us to be like broken bread and poured out wine for His glory, completely spent for His kingdom, having released all our "rights" to Him. Though there are many times He just seems narcissistic, He really is not. It doesn't make a great deal of sense to me but it really shows me that His ways and thoughts are indeed higher and through everything I have experienced, I know He's not stupid or crazy though sometimes I secretly tell Him He is when I get cranky. Why He would choose to give me such an easy life and at the same time give someone into poverty and abuse is beyond me. Why, nevertheless, I have always lived with a defeatist attitude, waiting for the day it will be my turn to be put through some terrible ordeal, is rather baffling. But at the end of the day, He knows what He's doing. He sees the whole picture. He knows how He has made each one of us, who He has given the capacity to endure the hardships threatening to consume. He is with every child as they cry at night. I can't answer why He does not seem to do anything. That's because I'm not in a place where I can know. Only the person will know, as they look back, as they take a moment to be still and reflect, where God has been through every season, in every situation. How maybe He tried to warn them, protect them from an unwise decision, how He reached out to heal and restore them as they lay their head down to rest.
I may think God is biased but someone once told me, "well, He's God. He can choose to do whatever He wants, even if it does not seem fair to us. He judges as He sees fit, whether that suits our definition of justice or not". That to me is true because there is so much we don't see or comprehend, and with our sinful nature and our own prejudices, we can't say our standard of justice is above God's. He's our yardstick. He is perfection. We cannot be above the One who formed us. If I judge another, I will be judged with the same measure. That's scary but effectively it is fair and just.
1 Corinthians 13: 1-3 "[Love] If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing".
Imagine, though, if we all did love our enemies, and our prayers moved God's heart and change was brought about in the lives of those who hurt us and they turned from their wicked ways to love the people they encounter, wouldn't that be amazing? Many times I think I'm just an idealist and what I hope for the world is an impossibility. But then I remember that my hopes reflect a tiny bit of God's heart of restoration and reconciliation and that He urges us to pray for these people to see them return to Him. In my selfishness, I often desire for the people who do hurtful things to be punished. For those I have come to resent or fear, I don't long to see them enjoy eternity with God. But God sees my sin the way I see theirs. Sin is sin and it disgusts and grieves Him. If in His grace He has saved me, then I have to reach my hand out to save others. And really, if you think about it, if I were to reach out and they were to get saved and be transformed in their character, then I would have no reason left to hate them or wish them gone from the face of the earth. So really, I am effectively delaying the materialisation of my "ideal world" by neglecting to pray for those that I, in my self righteousness, have deemed unworthy of forgiveness. I'm not God. That's not my call to make. So back to fighting on my knees in prayer.
Afterthoughts:
God's grace, to me, is unfathomable. I can't even begin to grasp the depth of it. I always ask Him why He created the world because He's effectively self sufficient. He doesn't need to be loved or worshipped. And though He knew how the world would turn out, how sin would come in and He'd have to allow for absolute goodness and absolute evil to exist along with free will, how He would eventually lose many who ultimately choose eternity without Him, He counted it worthwhile to go ahead with creation and the cost He paid on the cross.
Though He allows us to endure terrible pain and suffering in life, and tells us we can view ourselves worthy of persecution for His name sake. Though, through it all, He tells us to be like broken bread and poured out wine for His glory, completely spent for His kingdom, having released all our "rights" to Him. Though there are many times He just seems narcissistic, He really is not. It doesn't make a great deal of sense to me but it really shows me that His ways and thoughts are indeed higher and through everything I have experienced, I know He's not stupid or crazy though sometimes I secretly tell Him He is when I get cranky. Why He would choose to give me such an easy life and at the same time give someone into poverty and abuse is beyond me. Why, nevertheless, I have always lived with a defeatist attitude, waiting for the day it will be my turn to be put through some terrible ordeal, is rather baffling. But at the end of the day, He knows what He's doing. He sees the whole picture. He knows how He has made each one of us, who He has given the capacity to endure the hardships threatening to consume. He is with every child as they cry at night. I can't answer why He does not seem to do anything. That's because I'm not in a place where I can know. Only the person will know, as they look back, as they take a moment to be still and reflect, where God has been through every season, in every situation. How maybe He tried to warn them, protect them from an unwise decision, how He reached out to heal and restore them as they lay their head down to rest.
I may think God is biased but someone once told me, "well, He's God. He can choose to do whatever He wants, even if it does not seem fair to us. He judges as He sees fit, whether that suits our definition of justice or not". That to me is true because there is so much we don't see or comprehend, and with our sinful nature and our own prejudices, we can't say our standard of justice is above God's. He's our yardstick. He is perfection. We cannot be above the One who formed us. If I judge another, I will be judged with the same measure. That's scary but effectively it is fair and just.
3 comments:
Jos, I'm sending this article to you as it has come to mind several times when I've read your posts. It's a tough read. So perhaps you should read it in the morning as opposed to nighttime, when you deep thinking mind may kick into overdrive. I shared it on my blog some months back. Quite convicting.
Link: http://marisabanas.theworldrace.org/index.asp?filename=mr-pink-shirt
sorry. but, what the article did for me was see that I'm not in control. He is. thankfully. and while yes, i was sickened at the thot of innocent children who never seem to have a chance, i have been guilty of not loving the unlovable myself like marissa. you know, this gross stuff has been going on since the beginning of time. sodom and ghomorrah (sp? too lazy to search). We live in a broken world filled with sickness, filth, perversion. It's not our place to "fix" it. We can shine the light of truth by becoming more like Christ, sharing His gospel, living out our lives in His image. God hears the child crying in the night and is right there with them. Just as Jesus was in the boat with the disciples, He's in our "boat" and the "boats" of others. yes, bleed for those suffering, but prayer is the best way when you do not know them to take them to the Father. remember your scripture, phil. 4:8. meditate on those things in that passage. be a prayer warrior and intercede for them. Yes, our thots are not His thots nor are our ways His. Thankfully! He sees the broader picture. He knows where ever one of his sheep are. He hears their cries. He see ever tear that falls.
"You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Isa. 26:3
I leave you with Psalm 94.
xoxo
the thot of Him creating us for the mere fact that He wanted a relationship with us, is amazing to me. He chose to create us knowing what our choice would be in the garden and yet, He did it anyway. why? to have a loving relationship with us. wow. The God of the universe wants to love a wretched sinner like me.
my sin of pride, selfishness, when i lose my nerve with the boys or snap back at shawn is no less ugly to God than the sin of the rapist. it is my sinfulness that put Jesus on that cross.
what a loving God, indeed, that He died for me. reminds me of the old hymn, "An Can It Be". (Mom, are you there with me????)
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