Risky Business

Maybe I should start an exclusive John Eldredge blog. Well, here's another one from his book Wild at Heart (which I believe was written for guys, but girls can like it too).

God's love for us was a risk, one with life or death stakes. He asks us to take that same risk when he invites us to love him, and commands us to love others. I think God might be a bit of thrill-seeker, but also, I think he knows love is a risk worth taking. Read on....

God’s relationship with us and with our world is just that: a relationship. As with every relationship, there’s a certain amount of unpredictability, and the ever-present likelihood that you’ll get hurt. The ultimate risk anyone ever takes is to love, for as C. S. Lewis says, “Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal.” But God does give it, again and again and again, until he is literally bleeding from it all. God’s willingness to risk is just astounding—far beyond what any of us would do were we in his position. Trying to reconcile God’s sovereignty and man’s free will has stumped the church for ages. We must humbly acknowledge that there’s a great deal of mystery involved, but for those aware of the discussion, I am not advocating open theism. Nevertheless, there is definitely something wild in the heart of God.

just say it!

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

-Ephesians 4:29

With approximately 6.1 billion people inhabiting the earth, how is it possible that so many people feel lonely? Why is it that a large number of people, of all ages and types, report feeling unloved?

The reason I'm writing this is because it's Valentine's Day. A day that seems to celebrate romance and magnify the lonely and unloved feelings of those lacking romance. I feel it is only appropriate to address this issue today.

My uneducated theory, (that has been tested in my brain alone) is that the reason members of our 6.1 billion population feel isolated, unlovable, unwanted, and a multitude of other negative emotions, is not because they are any of those things, its just that they don't know the truth.

Tell me, when was the last time an onslaught of compliments hurt anyone? Why is it that we hold back the things we want to tell people, the things we should tell them? I have no clue as to why, but I feel like we may be embarrassed or prideful, or feel silly about telling someone what we like about them. However, I feel like sacrificing the tiny bit of awkwardness to brighten someone's day may have a powerful effect. To say, "I love your shoes" "You have a beautiful smile" "I really appreciate you".....and on, and on, and on. You know you've thought those things, so here's your homework: just say it!

A kind word may erase feelings of being unloved. An invitation for coffee may thwart the beliefs that one is alone. The taking of someone's hand in comfort, may help them make it to the next day.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. -1 Thess. 5:11

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. -Prov. 18:21

To those Valentine's haters: Believe me, YOU ARE LOVED! By our heavenly Father, who watched his son be tortured and die so that you can live in Heaven forever, by Jesus who sweat blood but carried his own cross for you, by the Holy Spirit that soothes yours soul in times of greif, that lifts your heart when its too heavy to carry. To add to this list: Those who love God are called to love others, seek them out! God will bring friends, co-workers, bosses, teachers, waitresses, children, people into your life to show you how much you are cherished.

To all others: Please don't hold back one more minute. Tell your best friend you love them, and at the very least, smile at a lonely stranger. There is power in the good you do for someone else.

Happy Valentine's Day!

winter.

Look at the life of Jesus. Notice what he did. When Jesus touched the blind, they could see; all the beauty of the world opened before them. When he touched the deaf, they were able to hear; for the first time in their lives they heard laughter and music and their children’s voices. He touched the lame, and they jumped to their feet and began to dance. And he called the dead back to life and gave them to their families. Do you see? Wherever humanity was broken, Jesus restored it. He is giving us an illustration here, and there, and there again.

The coming of the kingdom of God restores the world he made. God has been whispering this secret to us through creation itself, every year, at springtime, ever since we left the Garden. Sure, winter has its certain set of joys. The wonder of snowfall at midnight, the rush of a sled down a hill, the magic of the holidays. But if winter ever came for good and never left, we would be desolate. Every tree leafless, every flower gone, the grasses on the hillsides dry and brittle. The world forever cold, silent, bleak. After months and months of winter, I long for the return of summer. Sunshine, warmth, color, and the long days of adventure together. The garden blossoms in all its beauty. The meadows soft and green. Vacation. Holiday. Isn’t this what we most deeply long for? To leave the winter of the world behind, what Shakespeare called “the winter of our discontent,” and find ourselves suddenly in the open meadows of summer? If we listen, we will discover something of tremendous joy and wonder.

The restoration of the world played out before us each spring and summer is precisely what God is promising us about our lives. Every miracle Jesus ever did was pointing to this Restoration, the day he makes all things new.

From Epic, by John Eldredge

Have you ever been through a storm in life and woke up one day realizing you've survived? After months and months of pain and turmoil, you can finally look back with a sigh of relief. Healing is a gradual process, it takes a long time and there's no quick fix. However, God seems to have a way of gently restoring us, in a way that once we do heal, we are able to look back at our battle, assess our wounds, and thank God that he was there to fight for us, and to carry us away from the battlefield for healing.

One of my current addictions is Grey's Anatomy. Last night I was watching an episode from Season 4 and I was struck but why Meredith (the main character) says in her narrative:

"Don't wonder why people go crazy. Wonder why they don't. In face of what we can lose in a day, in an instant, wonder what the hell it is that make us hold it together." -Meredith Grey

(Do you ever wonder why you haven't gone crazy in your life?)

Left to our own resources, we would not be able to hold it all together. We are human. From the time we are small children, we cry, we scream, we throw fits, we get scared, we fall apart, and we reach for someone who can keep us together. Someone who can make our world okay again.

If you are entering a "springtime" in your life, embrace it. Learn from the Winter. If you are in the middle of the blizzard, hold on, God will make sure you make it to see the snow melt.