I have nothing to offer God that He doesn’t already have. He is the Lord God Almighty and I am just me. The comparison would be similar to considering what an amoeba would add to a relationship with Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking.
In human relationships, each person is imperfect. In human relationships each person brings strengths and weaknesses to the relationship. This is acceptable in human relationships because we add value to each other. As we share our strengths to offset the other person’s weaknesses, the relationship grows and we are better people because of the relationship. However…
In a relationship with God we bring all the imperfections and He brings all the purity.
In a relationship with God we bring all the weakness and He brings all the strength.
In a relationship with God we add no value to Who He is and He adds all the value of Who He is to us.
In a relationship with God we are the ones who grow and become better people and God remains as He is because we can not add anything to Who He is.
When I consider my a relationship with God, all I can offer Him are my imperfections and my weaknesses. Yet, God still loves me despite my inability to add anything to Who He is. I admit that I do not understand how God wants to be in a relationship with me but I believe by faith that He wants to be in relationship with me. I have human relationships where it seems like I give so little and receive so much.
I have been on a journey for the last couple of years. Over this time period there have been a couple of people who have traveled with me from the very beginning. Others were there for certain periods of time based on what God knew I needed at that time. Some of these people were existing friends and some of them are new friends that God provided for me along the way. Each of these women have added everything to my life. They have given to me their strength and their wisdom and their knowledge and their love and their support. I feel that all I have given are my imperfections, my weaknesses, and my troubles. Even so, they are still my friends. I know that I have standing invitations from each one of them to call upon them any time day or night if I need them. My seeming lack of contribution to the relationships because of my neediness has not stopped them from being my friends and loving me.
My imperfections and neediness do not stop God from loving me, either. The Bible tells me He loves me with an everlasting love and that He will never take that love away from me.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Pain versus Suffering
Some friends and I were mutually encouraging each other this week. We are struggling with being full-time students and bemoaning the woes of reading textbooks, conducting online research, creating PowerPoint presentations, and writing papers. All of these friends are also a spouse, a parent, an employee, and serve in ministry at their church or in some other volunteer capacity in their communities. As we encouraged each other I thought of an idea I read in a book years ago.
The idea presented by the author was one of pain versus suffering. Pain is a fact of life. Regardless of how hard we try we cannot avoid the pain that is a part of life. Life just hurts sometimes. But suffering is something different. Suffering is what happens when we try to wrestle life to the ground and make it behave on our own terms. Suffering occurs when we do not let go of a pain and move on. I’ve been challenged today to look at areas in which I think I might be suffering and determine whether or not I am trying to make life behave on my terms.
What about you? Is what you are experiencing pain? Or is it suffering? Are you giving certain feelings and emotions power over you to such a degree that they keep you in a continual state of suffering? Maybe you are like my friends and I who are so frustrated with doing homework as we work on our college degrees that the thought of writing one more paper is enough to push us over the edge. Maybe you are a stay-at-home mom or dad and the thought of changing one more diaper, cleaning up one more spill, or dealing with the chaos makes you want to scream. Maybe you are an empty nester and this season of life with adult children leaves you with a feeling of melancholy you cannot seem to shake. Or maybe you are in a work environment where expectations are unrealistic and mercy is non-existent. You go home every night so stressed out and exhausted you do not have any energy to give to the rest of life. Maybe you are just trying to survive the current economic crisis. Have you lost a loved one through death or a divorce and the grief feels like a wrecking ball has made a home in your heart even though the event occurred some time ago?
It is possible to take steps to minimize and even eliminate our suffering. The first step is to determine how much of our suffering is caused by trying to hold onto things we cannot control. Take the time to experience whatever is going on. Do not deny it or ignore it. Let your emotions have their say and do not fight back against something that cannot change. Recognize the situation for what it is. But don’t stay sitting in your emotions. Move onto the second step: accept it. To accept it means you no longer fight against the situation or you make a choice to change. Change yourself or, if possible, change the circumstance. Even if you cannot change the circumstance you can change your attitude about it. The final step is to get over it. Let go of the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that keep you in a state of suffering and move on. If you do this, you will put yourself in a place to receive healing and recovery. The pain may still exist to one degree or another but the suffering no longer affects your viewpoint about life.
Experience it. Accept it. Get over it. This is a process and will take time so be patient with yourself. Believe that you can minimize your suffering and experience joy in life. Pain versus suffering…the choice truly is yours.
The idea presented by the author was one of pain versus suffering. Pain is a fact of life. Regardless of how hard we try we cannot avoid the pain that is a part of life. Life just hurts sometimes. But suffering is something different. Suffering is what happens when we try to wrestle life to the ground and make it behave on our own terms. Suffering occurs when we do not let go of a pain and move on. I’ve been challenged today to look at areas in which I think I might be suffering and determine whether or not I am trying to make life behave on my terms.
What about you? Is what you are experiencing pain? Or is it suffering? Are you giving certain feelings and emotions power over you to such a degree that they keep you in a continual state of suffering? Maybe you are like my friends and I who are so frustrated with doing homework as we work on our college degrees that the thought of writing one more paper is enough to push us over the edge. Maybe you are a stay-at-home mom or dad and the thought of changing one more diaper, cleaning up one more spill, or dealing with the chaos makes you want to scream. Maybe you are an empty nester and this season of life with adult children leaves you with a feeling of melancholy you cannot seem to shake. Or maybe you are in a work environment where expectations are unrealistic and mercy is non-existent. You go home every night so stressed out and exhausted you do not have any energy to give to the rest of life. Maybe you are just trying to survive the current economic crisis. Have you lost a loved one through death or a divorce and the grief feels like a wrecking ball has made a home in your heart even though the event occurred some time ago?
It is possible to take steps to minimize and even eliminate our suffering. The first step is to determine how much of our suffering is caused by trying to hold onto things we cannot control. Take the time to experience whatever is going on. Do not deny it or ignore it. Let your emotions have their say and do not fight back against something that cannot change. Recognize the situation for what it is. But don’t stay sitting in your emotions. Move onto the second step: accept it. To accept it means you no longer fight against the situation or you make a choice to change. Change yourself or, if possible, change the circumstance. Even if you cannot change the circumstance you can change your attitude about it. The final step is to get over it. Let go of the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that keep you in a state of suffering and move on. If you do this, you will put yourself in a place to receive healing and recovery. The pain may still exist to one degree or another but the suffering no longer affects your viewpoint about life.
Experience it. Accept it. Get over it. This is a process and will take time so be patient with yourself. Believe that you can minimize your suffering and experience joy in life. Pain versus suffering…the choice truly is yours.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Beauty
I continue my quest to become not just the person God wants me to be but the woman God wants me to be. It is a God-directed quest and I confess I never would have had the courage or strength to travel the road of femininity without God’s constant prodding. I have been wounded as a result of being female and somewhere along the way learned to close my heart and mind to the reality that I am a woman. Many things have changed about me over the last several months. The changes have occurred on the inside and the outside.
As I learn to become more comfortable with the fact that God created me to be a woman, I realize that God has given each woman her own unique beauty. And one woman's beauty has nothing to do with another woman's beauty. My beauty...and your beauty...stands on its own. And one woman's beauty does not take away from another woman's beauty. Did you get that? Another woman’s beauty does not take away from your beauty.
Our beauty as individual women is enough because God gave it to us. And because God gave our beauty to us, no one can take it away unless we let them. Recognize your incredible, God-given beauty and do not let anyone...even yourself...take it away from you.
Recommended Reading
Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul by John and Stasi Eldredge.
As I learn to become more comfortable with the fact that God created me to be a woman, I realize that God has given each woman her own unique beauty. And one woman's beauty has nothing to do with another woman's beauty. My beauty...and your beauty...stands on its own. And one woman's beauty does not take away from another woman's beauty. Did you get that? Another woman’s beauty does not take away from your beauty.
Our beauty as individual women is enough because God gave it to us. And because God gave our beauty to us, no one can take it away unless we let them. Recognize your incredible, God-given beauty and do not let anyone...even yourself...take it away from you.
Recommended Reading
Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul by John and Stasi Eldredge.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)