The toughest part of the life-work to which God called me is knowing when to challenge, when to comfort; when to say "I understand," and when to say, "Do better for God's sake!" I am a coach of sorts; but, I am also a healer, a counselor, too. I need 20/20 vision of what God can make of people's lives, no matter how broken they may be at the moment. If I lose that vision, I will lose the ability to challenge others to let the Spirit of God change them into the likeness of the Lord Jesus, and I will lose the greatest hope that we have - the hope of salvation by the grace of God. But, I cannot be so enthralled with the possibility of making all things perfect that I lose the ability to empathize and love people who are making a mess of life through poor and/or sinful choices; or to give comfort to those whose lives are smashed by people or problems beyond their control.
Almost everyday I deal first with the gap that exists (yes, it exists, believe me!) between who I know God calls me to be, and who I am at this moment. Though I am still an imperfect man, I am thankful that I am loved perfectly by God. This allows me to be hopeful for those who come my way who are living foolishly or hopelessly, or in great pain. I serve people who are dealing with wounds that range from having selfish and/or abusive parents, to the pain of being rejected by a spouse, to being a slave to a boss who cares only for himself, to self-hatred because they have judged themselves too something (fat, skinny, tall, short, dumb, poor - the list is a long one). Many have come to the conclusion, "I am unlovely," and are full of self-loathing. I want them all to be healed and made perfect so badly that there is always an ache just below the surface, a kind of unending prayer that today God will use me to give somebody a reason to look up and ask for His help.
Empathy alone will not bring the life of Christ to those who need Him, however. As important as love is, there is a time for truth, too. We must face ourselves in the mirror and say, "With God's help, this is going to change!" And then to the hard work of making it happen. I am not in charge of opportunities and cannot explain why some people are handed so many gifts and others seem to draw the short straw, again and again. But, I do know that each and everyone of us has choices to make every day that have rippling effects down through the rest of our lives.
-A life-destroying affair starts with a choice to stare a little too long into the eyes of another.
-Losing 50 lbs. to stave off disease starts with what chose to eat for breakfast today!
-Becoming the person God wants us to be starts with a prayer for grace to say 'yes' to Him, just for today.
None of us will get it perfectly right - not the first time, not after 50 years! Perfection waits for that moment when God welcomes us into His glorious Presence. However, if we only see our imperfections, we will give up. But God asks only that today we give ourselves to the task of building His kingdom. Tomorrow will bring us its own set of challenges and its own supply of grace. So, let's grow up in Christ! As we seek His healing, and work to defeat Evil, aiming to make this world a beautiful place, we must hold onto faith, hope, and love. Faith that connects us to the unseen, hope that allows us to possess the promises of God now, and love that makes us like Him.
Here's a word from the Word. Take it with you today. "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13, NIV)
"We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love." (1 Corinthians 13:9-13, The Message)
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