I was a lost boy, and Wendy was taking us (all twelve of us) to London. We were leaving Neverland forever so we could grow up and be real Englishmen. We all climbed cheerily out of our underground hide-out and up through the tree-trunk that served as our doorway. I was the fourth or so to emerge, but, as I did, I saw Captain Hook hiding in wait, and, terrified, I bolted down the steps. As I did, I went down too quickly and my foot missed the step. I landed with all of my force just past the thick, pulled-back red curtains.
Yes, I was in a theatrical production of one of my all-time favorite stories, Peter Pan, and just before the end of Act II, I fell off a a prop piece. I would find out later that night that I had broken my foot. Five days later, I would go to the doctor and learn that it was a clean fracture that would heal quickly without a cast. But as for those five days? Those were the five longest days of my life.
It wasn't just breaking my foot. That was just the tip of the iceberg. My relationships with people were in a dangerous place, and I was beginning to lose my faith in humanity. I am not going to lie or make this pretty either--this happened at the end of January and I'm still struggling with trusting people now at the end of March. But the most beautiful thing we can do in our adolescence is lose faith in people. By doing that, we can begin to trust God within people. And I don't just mean Christians when I say that. C.S. Lewis, in his spiritual magnum-opus (I can get away with calling it that, right?), Mere Christianity, presents his idea of a universal moral code present inside all of us, guiding us to do the right thing. I wonder now who put that within us?
We have to stop trusting people, and instead look for God in people. But I digress, that isn't what I'm dedicating this post to. My greatest problem was that I had spent so much time looking to people, trusting people, having faith in people that honestly, I wasn't looking to God's love. And as I laid in my bed, my fractured foot elevated on a pillow, I cried out to Him quietly. I was at one of the lowest points of my life, and I needed to know He was still there for me.
That week, and the weeks that followed, and to this very day, God has been doing something incredible. As I lay there immobile, I gradually began to sense it stronger and stronger. It was God's love, and He was explaining to me in His eloquent and quiet way, straight to my heart, the power and intensity of His love. I was finally beginning to understand in a deeper way what it meant to be truly loved.
Weeks later, after many things were sorted out, I bought Jesus Culture's newest record, Come Away. There is a song on it called "One Thing Remains", and the first time I listened to the lyrics, really listened to them, I knew it was everything that God had been saying to me. "Your love never fails//Never gives up//Never runs out on me."
My love has failed others, and their love has failed me, but I realized this year what unfailing love looks like. It doesn't matter what we do, what we look like, where we have come from. It doesn't matter who likes us, who takes care of us, who comes to greet us, who leaves us forever. There is no circumstance that could ever cause God's love to fail you. God does not look down at someone who mistreats you and say, "Maybe they're right. Maybe there is something unworthy about my child. Maybe I should not love them quite so much." God's love does not give out on you. You cannot exhaust Him. His love will never run out.
God's love is infinite. There is not a point of time or area in your life where it begins to wear thin. "It goes on, and on, and on, and on, and on."
He loves you, and He's never letting His love for you go. :)
And because He loves us, we can love others fearlessly. We can trust. It isn't that we're trusting sin, or the demonic problems people are facing, we're trusting that as we obey and follow the Law of Love, God is going to protect us and guide us. He is leading us in the way we need to go. Because He has put His love in our hearts, we are called to love others with that same love. God is teaching us to love, and because we've come in contact with the God-kind of love, we are obligated to go out and express, share it, teach it. We need to let others know what it looks like and why we've chosen to love--and why we are able to love.
Be unafraid. One thing will remain after all things pass away. It is stronger than the power of the grave. It overcame the grave. And if you have accepted Christ, then that power, that precious love of God, dwells in you. And His love will never run out for you.
He will not give up on you.
In Him,
-Hannah
Yes, I was in a theatrical production of one of my all-time favorite stories, Peter Pan, and just before the end of Act II, I fell off a a prop piece. I would find out later that night that I had broken my foot. Five days later, I would go to the doctor and learn that it was a clean fracture that would heal quickly without a cast. But as for those five days? Those were the five longest days of my life.
It wasn't just breaking my foot. That was just the tip of the iceberg. My relationships with people were in a dangerous place, and I was beginning to lose my faith in humanity. I am not going to lie or make this pretty either--this happened at the end of January and I'm still struggling with trusting people now at the end of March. But the most beautiful thing we can do in our adolescence is lose faith in people. By doing that, we can begin to trust God within people. And I don't just mean Christians when I say that. C.S. Lewis, in his spiritual magnum-opus (I can get away with calling it that, right?), Mere Christianity, presents his idea of a universal moral code present inside all of us, guiding us to do the right thing. I wonder now who put that within us?
We have to stop trusting people, and instead look for God in people. But I digress, that isn't what I'm dedicating this post to. My greatest problem was that I had spent so much time looking to people, trusting people, having faith in people that honestly, I wasn't looking to God's love. And as I laid in my bed, my fractured foot elevated on a pillow, I cried out to Him quietly. I was at one of the lowest points of my life, and I needed to know He was still there for me.
That week, and the weeks that followed, and to this very day, God has been doing something incredible. As I lay there immobile, I gradually began to sense it stronger and stronger. It was God's love, and He was explaining to me in His eloquent and quiet way, straight to my heart, the power and intensity of His love. I was finally beginning to understand in a deeper way what it meant to be truly loved.
Weeks later, after many things were sorted out, I bought Jesus Culture's newest record, Come Away. There is a song on it called "One Thing Remains", and the first time I listened to the lyrics, really listened to them, I knew it was everything that God had been saying to me. "Your love never fails//Never gives up//Never runs out on me."
My love has failed others, and their love has failed me, but I realized this year what unfailing love looks like. It doesn't matter what we do, what we look like, where we have come from. It doesn't matter who likes us, who takes care of us, who comes to greet us, who leaves us forever. There is no circumstance that could ever cause God's love to fail you. God does not look down at someone who mistreats you and say, "Maybe they're right. Maybe there is something unworthy about my child. Maybe I should not love them quite so much." God's love does not give out on you. You cannot exhaust Him. His love will never run out.
God's love is infinite. There is not a point of time or area in your life where it begins to wear thin. "It goes on, and on, and on, and on, and on."
He loves you, and He's never letting His love for you go. :)
And because He loves us, we can love others fearlessly. We can trust. It isn't that we're trusting sin, or the demonic problems people are facing, we're trusting that as we obey and follow the Law of Love, God is going to protect us and guide us. He is leading us in the way we need to go. Because He has put His love in our hearts, we are called to love others with that same love. God is teaching us to love, and because we've come in contact with the God-kind of love, we are obligated to go out and express, share it, teach it. We need to let others know what it looks like and why we've chosen to love--and why we are able to love.
Be unafraid. One thing will remain after all things pass away. It is stronger than the power of the grave. It overcame the grave. And if you have accepted Christ, then that power, that precious love of God, dwells in you. And His love will never run out for you.
He will not give up on you.
In Him,
-Hannah
No comments:
Post a Comment