The pages of the Bible bring forth a resounding call to love God with everything in us. This call challenges the way we think, the way we act and even the way we feel. As you and I think about the call to love God with complete abandon to the point where we invite Him to change our thoughts, actions and feelings, we must turn our attention to the One who is calling us to change. Long before we invite God to change anything about us, we must know and believe that God has our very best interest at heart.
To be honest with you, this has been one of the biggest struggles in my Christian walk. I have struggled to know and believe that God is with me and that God is for me. This is true because deep down in my soul I have spent much of my life questioning God’s plan for me.
As many of you know, I am adopted.While I grew up in a wonderful Christian home, I struggled daily with feelings of abandonment, rejection and loneliness. As a result of these feelings, I found myself keeping God at arm’s length because I knew that if I perceived that God let me down I simply would not have the strength to go on. So, in order to “protect” myself, I kept a safe distance from God by not allowing Him into the most important areas of my life.
As you might guess, this plan did not work. All it took was one simple prayer for the walls of my life to come crashing down around me. I prayed, “Lord make me real;” and that is exactly what He did. This occurred through a difficult season of life.
During this season of life, God allowed everything in my life to turn upside down. The things that once seemed normal to me were no longer normal; and the things that once seemed certain to me were no longer certain. This season rocked me to the very core of my being and forced me to ask tough questions.
“Lord, do I trust You?”
“Lord, do I believe that You have a plan for my life?”
“Lord, do I have the faith to believe that nothing is impossible for You?”
“Lord, am I willing to live my life in complete abandon to You?”
I will be honest with you and share that at the height of my difficult season I barely functioned. For the first time, I saw wrong motives, feelings and perspectives that were charting the course of my life.
It was not until I came to the point of complete and total surrender to the Lord that I sensed that He was releasing me from this difficult season. The releasing process was slow and steady; but I was released. I want to tell you that I was a changed person. For the first time I felt alive, free and experiencing joy and satisfaction down deep in my soul. I was real before God, myself and others. I had a fresh perspective on life, and I was able to see the details of my life from God’s perspective.
Ultimately, what I learned from my difficult season is that when I keep God at arm’s length I am not protected. No. I am vulnerable to Satan’s attack and vulnerable to living my life based on wrong feelings and emotions. I also learned that if I am going to heed the call to love God with everything in me, then I must give Him complete access to every part of my life. Nothing can be off limits to God. Further, the tough questions that I asked led to strong assurances that I rebuilt my life upon.
“Lord, I do trust You!”
“Lord, I know that You have a plan for my life.”
“Lord, I believe that nothing is impossible for You!”
“Lord, I will live my life for You!”
Today I wonder if you are in the middle of a difficult season of life. If so, open your heart to the Lord. Pour out your thoughts to your creator, your God, and your friend. It is amazing that right now He sees you, He knows you and more than anything He loves you.
Dear friend, God is with you, and He is for you! In fact, God went to great lengths in order to show you His love. The Bible says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, New International Version)
Right now embrace the love of Christ by giving Him access to every area of your life. As you do, you will find the way to survive the most difficult seasons of life.