When God Runs............



A Walk To Remember
Mandy Moore (Jamie) and Shawn West (Landon)

 

For the past several days, I have been absolutely drawn into the movie "A Walk To Remember". The movie came out in 2002 and is an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name. The lead roles are for teens of about 18 years of age, one male and one female. The male is a good looking young man, very popular in his school, rebellious and the typical 'bad boy' image. The female is a cute girl whose father is the local Reverend. She sings in her church choir and is a sweet and plain young woman with faith and values.

So, there's the premise for the entire movie. What will we do with these teens? They've grown up in small town America and have known each other since Kindergarten, but have taken much different paths. Through a series of events, they are thrown together in a more intimate environment and the story begins.

It is evident from the opening scene that the young man has the nucleus of a good heart, with compassion for others but he cannot overcome his desire to fit in as a member of the 'in' crowd and allow that heart to be nurtured. As the movie progresses, we see the young man's heart softening for the young woman. Still, he struggles with what his friends will say if he professes his affection and attraction for the young woman.

Finally, the inevitable happens and the two young people declare their affection for each other and become a couple. As in life, the other shoe drops and all is in turmoil when tragic news is learned. The remainder of the film deals with two young people, very much in love, dealing with very adult issues, the most painful of which is death.  Throughout this movie, I kept thinking "God is on that young man's trail"!

 

 

Isn't that just like life?  We go about thinking we're doing as we please, that all of our decisions affect no one but us.  Then, something happens that reminds us of our connection to countless others.  We step back and take account of our life and find that God has been running after us for most of our lives.  His only desire is for us to find Him dear to our heart; to love Him the way He created us to; to love each other as we were created to.

God runs after us before we accept Him as our Savior because He wants us to accept the free gift of salvation Jesus Christ has paid for.  We become Christians and He continues to run after us to convince us that it lies in our best interest to be committed to Him and to His way as we live our lives. 

He has a purpose and plan for each of us.  When we walk outside that plan, He runs after us to try to draw us in to the plan that will best glorify Him and give us joy and peace.  Even when we're walking in His plan, He continues to run for us in order to bring us into more intimate relationship with Him, to draw us into Himself and into the depths of His love for us.

So often, we live very surface Christian lives because we refuse to give up what our friends, neighbors and/or family members might think of us if we become 'sold out' for the Lord.  He pursues us, He guides us, He does all He can to entice us into that deeper relationship, yet we turn from it for our own selfish reasons.

Yet, in all of our confusion and downright rebellion, He continues to pursue us, running after us to remind us of the blessings we leave behind when we choose to walk away from a God that has, from the beginning, pursued His people and who will continue to do so until He calls us home.

When is the last time God ran ofter you?  Can you identify it or did you run so hard from Him that you've forgotten what you were running from?  For me, the last rebellion was a bout with grief that turned out to be not about grief at all, but about surrender...submission...letting go....trusting my Creator God to know what is best for me.

God is closing some doors in my life.  Not necessarily places I should not be or go or even people I should or should not be in contact with.  The most poignant has been a clear and definite instruction from God to put my wedding ring away.  I fought that one hard!  I felt as though putting my wedding ring away would feel like I didn't love Terry anymore or that I had forgotten all we shared.  It does neither, rather it only opens my life for new directions and a new way of serving.

I thought I would not be able to be without my ring and determined that I just could not do that.  Then, I began to forget to put my ring on before leaving my house.  I would get half way to where I was going and find I had forgotten my ring.  At first, I was so upset and almost turned around and headed back home just to get my ring.  Something (God?) would not let me do so. 

It doesn't make practical sense to me to put my ring away.  I have loved Terry since I was 15-16 years old.  What sense does it make to put my ring away now simply because he lives in heaven and I'm still here on earth?  Frankly, I don't know.  However, I have learned a thing or two about serving God.  The first is that, God often does not make human sense.  Why should He?  He created me; why should the created expect the creator to explain himself to us?  THAT makes no practical sense either, right?  Right.

I don't always under stand His way, but I understand that He loves me and ALWAYS, ALWAYS does what is best for me and what will allow me to bring more honor to Him.  Sometimes I forget that my purpose here is not to have a good time, or enjoy the ride.  My purpose here to is accomplish the plan He has for my life.  I don't know why wearing my wedding ring interfered with that, but it did. 

So, I put my ring away.  I don't know if this means never wear it again; but I know it means don't wear it for now.  I don't like it; but I'm accepting it and I will like it because I am commanded to revere and honor the Lord.

³⁷ Jesus replied,

“‘You must love the Lord your God

with all your heart, all your soul,

and all your mind.’

³⁸ This is the first

and greatest commandment.

Matthew 22:37-38  (NLT)

The Depths of Love

His hand reached farther down than I could reach up.....

"You're an ignorant woman!" That was Terry's last words to me before he settled back into his chair to sleep this morning..........I was cut to the bone by the comment, but I quickly reminded myself that it was not Terry talking..........I wanted to sit down and cry, but I knew it wouldn't do any good. It's just the beginning of what could become a very long and drawn out path on his journey home. 

Quotes from my blog post of January 21, 2009, The Journey Home...In The Beginning.  Little did I know I was within five days of releasing Terry to heaven.  It's been four years and I love him even more now than I did then.  It's has not been an easy road, but it does get better as time passes. 

I have been going through a difficult period and thought it was all about grief.  It was not.  It has been the Holy Spirit drawing me away to Himself, preparing me for the road ahead.  Exactly what that road will look like, I do not know.  I know this....wherever it takes me and whatever it includes, my Lord has a plan for me.  I surrender myself to His plan, knowing that my soul is at rest in Him and that my future with Him is secure.

I will miss my husband until the day I see him again in heaven.  However, death is but a time of waiting for me and a time of revelation for him.  At the appointed time, I will have my own revelation of the fullness of who God is and all He has prepared for me. 

I read something written by a 17 year old young woman earlier in the evening.  She said that we search for love and long for it, yet we cannot see that not only is God love, God CREATED love.  Wow!  Now, that is wisdom for anyone at any age; for a 17 year old, that is witness that she has a heart surrendered to the Lord!  Thank you to my friend and sister of the heart, Cheryl, for sharing what her niece had written.  She is, indeed, an exceptional young woman!

So, I move forward one day at a time, knowing God loves me, that He created love just so we, also His creation, could know the depth of His desire for our relationship with Him.

Your love is a treasure,
and everyone finds shelter
in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 36:7   (CEV)

Mercy

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me.................
 

We talk about grace and mercy a lot in the Christian community.  It is what Joyce Meyer often refers to as our 'Christian-eze', that language we speak that makes us feel superior, very anointed, yet is so often not understood by those who need Jesus the most.  With that in mind, I would like us to think about mercy and just exactly what mercy is.

MERCY:

Noun Compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm; An event to be grateful for, esp. because its occurrence prevents something unpleasant or provides relief from suffering.

Synonyms pity - compassion - clemency - grace - charity

You will note that grace is a synonym of mercy as thus defined in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.  As we consider these definitions, what can we glean about God as He offers us mercy?

Compassion or forgiveness offered to someone over whom one has the power to inflict punishment or harm.  That certainly defines our relationship in regards to God.  He is our creator and has the power and right to punish us or harm us at His will.  Yet, from the beginning, He has gone beyond what would humanly be considered reasonable to offer us compassion and forgiveness.

In the garden, with a perfect paradise surrounding them, Adam and Eve chose sin over obedience.  In spite of that blatant act of disobedience, God offered a way of repentance and redemption, a way of restoration for Adam and Eve in their relationship with God.  The God who gave them life, who provided their every need, was willfully disobeyed yet it was this same God who reached out to Adam and Eve in restoration.  What an amazing act of mercy from the very beginning!

Mankind continued their willing walk away from the God who created them, who loved them so unconditionally.  Every imagination of their heart was sinful.  Of all mankind, only one man could be found faithful, Noah.  Because of Noah's faithfulness and obedience, he and his family were chosen by God to play the role of the redeemer of mankind.  Noah, his wife, three sons and three daughters-in-law were the only individuals of the human race allowed to survive the Great Flood.  From their line sprang the new line of humanity that re-populated the earth.

The scarlet thread of redemption continued through the ages and the lineage of Hebrew people.  Moses, who was the prince of Egypt by purpose and the redeemer of the Israelite people by plan.  David who was the child king of the Hebrew people, who was a man after God's own heart, who was offered redemption after willful sins and who became the father of the lineage of Jesus Christ.

Esther who became the redeemer of her people by marrying the Babylonian king and walking in a manner that might seem contrary to God's law to us, but which was ordained by God Himself as a way to redeem and restore His people.  Deborah, the judge, who walked out before the Hebrew army and proclaimed the way of the Lord for her people and led them to victory, again in what might seem contrary to God's will, but so obviously in the very center of His mercy.

All the way to a pure young virgin named Mary, who heard from the angel and submitted herself to God's perfect will and His seemingly strange plan.  And Joseph, a young man who loved Mary and had been promised her as his bride.  Who accepted God's strange plan and submitted to God's will, who loved our Savior as his own son while all along knowing he was the Son of the Most High God.

Then there is Jesus Christ, the living Son of the Most High God; Immanuel, Counselor, Redeemer, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  A man who was at once God and man; who knew no sin, but knew every temptation mankind can face.  A man or sorrows and acquainted with grief, yet who walked the streets of heaven both before and after his time here.  Who now awaits the opportunity to welcome His bride home.  Who bore my sin in His body; who knew death and the grave so that I might never have to experience the sting of death.

Above and beyond the mercy of salvation, are the manifold ways God bestows mercy on me every day of my life.  Blessings of peace and contentment in even the most trying of times; a loving family who watches over me; faithful and true friends who pray for me and encourage me; financial supply for my daily needs and many of my desires; His Word to guide me as I go and give me encouragement and hope....the list goes on and on.

MERCY....unwarranted favor from someone who has the power to punish and/or cause pain yet who chooses to give forgiveness and restoration; who gives blessings to numerous to count...  THAT is JESUS to ME!

²² The faithful love of the Lord never ends!^[a]
His mercies never cease.
²³ Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.

^[a]Hebrew reads of the Lord keeps us from destruction.

 

Lamentations 3:22-25   (NLT)

Barren...or Dormant?



A time of unfruitfulness can be beautiful
if you know the secret to loving that season.

I wonder if you've ever been in what you considered a dry and barren land; a time of life when there seemed to be no justice, no sense of fairness, when it felt as though the whole world was resplendent with blessing and your were alone with none.  Your dreams had fallen apart.  Your plans had become nothing more than disappointing daggers of doubt to your soul.  The wicked seemed to flourish even as you gave your best and had no reward whatsoever.

I have just lived one of those times.  Why God, why?  When God, when? How God, how?  Where God, where?  Just let me in on your plan, God; just let me in!  Lost in despair and feeling as though there could never be light or blossoming again.

Then, I began a study in Habakkuk.  It was not what I wanted to hear, but listen I must because I knew that's what God wanted me to hear at that time.  We were coming up on a study of the Minor Prophets in our Sunday Connect Group and I had decided to do some study on them in preparation.  Habakkuk help my rapt attention.  I could not turn away.  I woke from sleep during the middle of the night knowing in my spirit that I must read Habakkuk.  Over and over again I read.

The Holy Spirit began to show me things that I still do not have freedom in my spirit to share.  Perhaps someday I will; or perhaps what I learned was intended for no on but me.  Time will tell.  I do know that the verses quoted below became almost like a battle cry for me.  I can't see it right now, but I will praise the Lord anyway! 

Sometimes, the real beauty lies within the barren season.  What would spring be like without the winter?  Are my barren seasons really barren, or only dormant?  They are definitively separate things.  Barren is defined as unfruitful or unproductive, dormant is defined as latent but with the possibility of becoming active again.  I am only barren if I allow the enemy to make me see myself that way.

The last sentence of this book says "He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights."  I WILL tread the heights, both here and hereafter!  Incredible opportunities have been opened to me; opportunities that I never dreamed could be available to me.  I was not prepared to feel worthy of those opportunities.  I had to reach the realization that, although nothing I do makes me worthy, the fact that I am a child of the King of Kings makes me worthy of every blessing He places in my life. 

Through a series of adversities that have been in my life since childhood and moving forward, I had taught myself to feel 'lesser than' and completely unworthy.  Every time I lost something or someone important to me, I knew I deserved to lose that.  Habakkuk taught me a valuable lesson about what I deserve.  I can look more objectively at my life now and realize that, when Jesus said the rain falls on the just and the unjust, He was not referring me when He referred to the 'unjust'.  Honestly, I am 55 years old and I have just come to that realization.  I knew in my head, my heart did not know, could not accept that fact.

I am the JUST because Jesus lives in me.  I deserve the blessings He places in my life because I love Him and He lives in me.  I will tread the heights as I make this trip home because He lives in me.

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
    able to tread upon the heights.

Habakkuk 3: 17-19   (NLT)

Thy Word.........

 

 

 

 

I worship you
with all my heart.
Don’t let me walk away
from your commands.
I treasure your word
above all else;
it keeps me from sinning
against you.
I praise you, Lord!
Teach me your laws.

Psalm 119:10-12   (CEV)

 

 

Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin.

May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:13-14   (NLT)