Searching for Love...in the right places?

Food and Water is necessary for the survival of our bodies.
God’s love is necessary for the survival of our souls.
But even if we have bread and water to sustain our lives, it seems we will eventually crumble under the pressure of living in a broken world if we do not live, breathe, believe and trust is the love of God.

Many of our relationships in this life may become unfulfilling if we never fully learn to trust/believe in God’s love for us. Or, if we rely too heavily on love found in relationships, when they end or someone passes, we ourselves are left void, questioning our purpose in life.  Many of us will search our entire lives to find love. We look for it in our family, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends…searching to fill that “something” in our hearts. God wants to be that “something.” In fact, He wants to be the ONLY something.

When we finally believe and abide in God’s love, new life springs into our souls, our lives, our relationships and our destiny. Purpose has been found. Eternity becomes a blessed assurance.

Could it be as simple as spending time in the presence of God? Could it be as simple as seeking His arms as often as we can and from that Source everything flows?? John 4:10 promises, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” It’s by no accident Jesus uses water to describe himself or His spirit: water is the source of life’s abundance. It’s the “gift” of God’s love from which ALL good things flow.

Cynthia Herald writes, “The very best thing I can do for myself is to seek to grasp the depth of God’s love for me. If I am secure in God’s devotion, then I am free to love others without depending on them to meet my need for love. Only God’s love is everlasting, unreserved and complete. His love forgives, molds, disciples and equips me to live. There is no equal or substitute for God’s love.”

I remember a time when the thing I wanted most in the world was to find a man who was brave enough to ask me to marry him, not afraid of a woman who wanted to make a difference in the world and someone strong enough to stand in the fire of trails with me. Oh AND I wanted a man “crazy” about me! These were very high expectations. So I was in a constant state of turmoil questioning how in the world this man existed…and if he did, would he find me and keep his end of the covenant? Sometimes, it felt hopeless.

Then God gave me a revelation…much like the one Cynthia wrote above: “If I am SECURE in God’s devotion [to me], then I am free to love others without DEPENDING on them to meet MY NEED for LOVE.”
First, I had to ask myself if I was depending on the idea of a husband to fulfill my need for love and validation and purpose.
The answer was yes. I would find validation in knowing that he needed me as much as I needed him. But this plan was destined to fail!  We are all human and at some point, “Mr. Right” would not meet my needs to be loved and validated.  And if he thought I was "Mrs. Right"...at some point, I would fail him.

There is only one person who can meet that need: the person of God. God showed me that if I had a genuine loving relationship with Him, then not only would God meet my deepest desire to be loved, but it would take the pressure from having to expect so much of someone else. I could take “Mr. Right” off the pedestal which gives us a chance at a workable, real and fulfilling relationship

Let’s learn how to focus on learning and believing and basking in God’s love…and all other things will flow from it.

Exploring what God thinking about Safety...Part 2

My dream bike is a 2008 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 Nightser with a custom pink/black paint job. It fits me perfectly. In all my excitement, I talked about buying a motorcycle for a week. To my surprise, almost everybody I mentioned it too frowned at me and said, “Do you know how dangerous that is?” My mother actually yelled at me for even THINKING about buying a bike. I believe the term she used was “death on wheels!” But as it turns out, chances of me dying on a motorcycle are less likely than something like a brain aneurism or a heart attack. Tonight’s life event reminded me, this life isn’t guaranteed. In the blink of an eye, it could all be gone.

Psalm 4:8
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makes me dwell in safety.

Proverbs 30:5
every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

Tonight, I got a phone call that shook me to the core: a friend had a brain clot the size of an orange. A young 27 yr old mother of two, she was at home with the kids when she started to feel funny and her husband called 911, “just in case.” Always healthy and in shape, no one could foresee what was really happening. In moments, she was in the hospital for immediate brain surgery: her life hanging on by a thread. I think what shook me was that she was my age…a couple years younger, infact.

How come no one warns us about brain clots? So, if at any moment, life could change, why are we living it as if it weren’t? Why are we playing it “safe” when safety is but an illusion?

Or is it????

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. –Psalm 138:7

True safety isn’t an illusion. There is always a refuge to be found in God. There is always a shield He can provide. His word and His Arms are our haven. And when it comes to life, the only REAL safe place is in the will of God.

Anything in this life can happen to us, even hurt us. To walk out the door is risky. To walk across the street could mean death. Each morning we wake up, we face uncertainty and risk. I, personally, cannot imagine living my life with uncertainty. It would be draining and unbearable. I need something certain, something steady, something unchangeable so that I can get out of bed in the morning. And that something is someone: God.

Unfortunately, many see believing in God as weak. I’ve heard someone teach that faith is spelled R. I. S. K. I have to agree. Believing in something unseen is risky. Acting on something impossible seems reckless. Stepping out of your safety zone into unknown territory is scary. But in God’s plan, faith is vital to survival and key to our relationship with Him. In God’s plan, taking a risk on His behalf isn’t risk at all. In fact, risk is an illusion in the minds of His slightly-fearful children.

Tonight’s scare has me convinced more than ever that the greatest risk we will ever take is not believing in God’s love and the message of His son Jesus. In the end, we leave the world with nothing but our spirit, just as we came in. So why waste any more time in the “safety” zone of life when faith should drive us to step out of our comfort zone and dare to make a difference?
Dare to live with purpose…
Dare to believe…
Dare to trust in the word and promise of the living God.