Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Loving God

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength."
There are moments in my life when the above verse is my rock, my anchor and my stay. Whenever I catch myself veering off course this command can stop me in my tracks. "Love the LORD your God;" Love. With all my heart. And soul. And mind. And strength.

Love. One would think love wouldn't/shouldn't be so hard. One would think love shouldn't be forced, cohered, chosen. But for me there are days when loving is the last thing I (ashamedly) want to do. Why? Because sometimes love is hard . . . and scary. To love the Lord with all my heart costs a lot; infact, it costs me everything. It requires a turning away from my flesh. It commands a single focus. It demands my trust.

Ooo, trust. Trust in God's sovereign character and power; trust that I am perfectly and wonderfully made (blemishes and all). Trust that He wanted me and still wants me just as I am. Trust that He will never leave me and that He will finish His work in me. For me, trusting equates a letting go of my plans.

But oh the joy of trust--the beauty, peace and contentment which flows in is unfathomable. The relationship between Papa and daughter, Lord and bond-servant, Friend and friend grows.  And that's where I am--a six year old Christian still learning to delight herself in her Lord . . . while finding him incredibly faithful, holy, and good. I stop and think of Hebrews 12:22:

"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem . . ."

What a beautiful place to be. 

3 comments:

  1. Wonderful post! Our women's bible study is going through the challenging "love" chapter.

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  2. This was a very interesting and good post to read, Frannie!
    I never do like to have to go through a 'tough time', but, I tend to look back afterwards and say, "Thank you, God, for helping me to grow more in You while going through that.". I have gone through many 'trust' issues like you mentioned. "Could God really love me when I'm not a size 2, have perfect hair and skin? Surely He wants me to work on that..." Or "I just don't fit into this group. Maybe if I changed a few things..." Yeah. Self confidence has always been difficult for me because I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that I'm not a sinner for looking the way I do, but I need to trust that God made me this way on purpose because He has a plan. And already, I can see part of it being fulfilled by noticing that I can understand what girls like me go through and can help them be more confident in themselves that perhaps the girl with the 'perfect makeover' couldn't do. Don't know if that made any sense... :)

    Also, sorry I didn't come and tell you that I tagged you on my blog! It got kind of busy over here... ;)

    Blessings, dear Frannie!! You are beautiful just the way God made you. :)

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  3. Miss Frannie,

    Love is such a precious treasure indeed, the it is often quite hard to show. Loving the Lord with all of our heart does take sacrifice, laying down our own will, desires, and plans, to give the Lord the first place in our heart, which He sould always have.

    Your words are always a blessing to me, and speak to my heart so dearly!

    May the Lord bless you, keep you, and make His face shine upon you dear friend!

    In Christ,
    ~Shannon~

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Hey there, darling!

I'd love to hear your thoughts -- leave a comment below and I'll do my best to give you a reply. There is nothing sweeter then hearing from my readers!

Love, blessings and a steaming cup of coffee,

Frannie Anne

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