Friday 8 June 2012

Smitten: A Man Who Loves Me Perfectly


Love. 

A word interpreted so differently by millions of individuals. 
For some, it is physical; others, emotional; or, a commodity to be bought and a whole range of other fleshy 'feelings'.


Perfection.

A word the human brain can only imagine, or dream of. God is perfect, and that's it, period.
But, what image of perfection can we connect with this word, when we haven't seen God's face?
Only the love we've experienced at His hands and the journey we have had with Him, in an interactive relationship. Our hearts have an image of perfection, God, but our brains.. Oh man, I don't think they have the capacity to contain such a reality.

The Man. 

The only Being in this universe capable of loving a person, perfectly. God takes this love issue to a whole new level. Why wouldn't He, He created it! God, this most beautiful King, shows us His perfection, His flawless character, His justice, peace, grace(oh I like this word!) and never-changing love.
God loves perfectly. I experienced it myself. 
I have learnt from past experience, that love will not always be pleasant, in fact, that it should not be. 
As it is, our Dad calls us to love people, I haven't read, not once, a scripture in the Bible that calls us to like people. Love is an eternal state of the heart, and mind: it is a decision.
God's love is made perfect by Him. He is just and wants only the best for us


Sometimes, we turn away from Him, giving Him the finger and tell Him to, 'Take a hike Old Guy!', with our actions. God, being the bigger person(literally), does not retaliate by striking us down with fiery bolts of lightning at that very moment, but lets us go instead, yet He never lets go or loses hope about our return. He beckons us to come back into our Dad's arms for a warm embrace; for the eternal well-being of our souls. He never abuses or interferes with our freewill and continues to pour out His grace on us.
God, whose helplessly in love with His creation, sacrificed Himself for a dying world that had distanced itself from Him, its own Creator.
He loves without reservation, equally. He loves freely.


Smitten.

I am. Well, see it's quite a story. I love God, but have always understood that He loves me more, in such abundance. I fell in love with the idea of God. The idea of a relationship with Him, the idea of an unglamourous life and complete contentment with His will for my life. 
But, the action of engaging in this relationship, without any selfish agendas, was far from me.
Not for long.


God, knocked me off my feet and romanced me. He told me I was beautiful, that I had great purpose and that He would capture my heart, make it new, fill it with love; joy; peace; kindness; goodness; faithfulness; gentleness and a tot of self-control. He held my hand, firmly, and told me that I was His exquisite work, His own little princess and that I deserved only the best.
With that information, I began to search, I was determined to find my 'Best'. I looked, not for long, and found someone that seemed to fit just perfectly. A creation whose heart reflected Jesus. Boy, did that draw me in! I pursued my own idea of what God wanted for me, after conveniently forgetting that God had everything under control. 


Of course I did not forget God in my desperate pursuit. I asked Him for strange things, politely thanked Him for everything I could think of and began to do some extravagantly good deeds. No-one knew about them but I was doing an excellent job at attempting to bribe God, which was, in hindsight, a thorough waste of time. Here I was, a little brat of a teenage girl, trying to twist my Father(who controls the activities of a wholes universe!)'s arm, into giving me my 'toy', that I felt I deserved already; I can imagine God grimacing at the image of my heart, shaking His head in disappointment, and just looking ahead in time to see the part where I get it; when I surrender and give it all back to Him to handle again.


I am there now. In fact, I have just arrived, and krikey(!), have I made a mess of things! I was on the verge of destroying a wholesome friendship for what I felt was right, but had never bothered to ask my Dad about. I sinned, lying to God about my heart's intentions and took control of my life again, after willingly handing it over and committing to submitting to God's will for my life.


Intermission.

I've always seen this term in the middle of old school Bollywood movies. I have never 'Googled' the word, but I can describe the feeling: a breath of fresh air, a time to relax your over-heating brain. Just before the climax of the story, when you're left to wonder whether Sharukh will meet his lover again or if her family will marry her off to the jerk of a rich a boy before Sharukh finds her. (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge: my memory of it is a bit rusty.)


It's a bit like grace, a breath of fresh air. When things are certain to go wrong but you can be sure that they will work out for your good if you only hand them over to God to fix, because He knows exactly what you need!

It's only because of God's sacrificial love and grace that I can turn over the page and start a new chapter.
I shall name it:

Surrender. Trust. Patience. Growth.

God's grace is poured out on you, like an inescapable shower of rain that drenches you to the knickers.

Embrace His grace. It will blow your expectations of the life He has planned for you!