Love; Falling into the Great Abyss

This morning I struggle with great truth. I have the joy of being chosen to serve people that God has set aside for great things. The love that God speaks through me to them is a love I covet for myself. It is an amazing, burning love; it is so deep and sincere. It exists not for flattery or vanity or self. These people will impact God’s kingdom and a way that I could only hope. I am not lessor for their greatness; I’m just not them. God has His plan for me. Mine is no less relevant or meaningful. I feel His love for these people, and it overwhelms me.

I was meant to be in their lives. It was part of God’s plan for each of us. What they are doing I could never do, it is not my gift, but I love it. When they doubt, God gives me a word or two that builds them back up. You see, they are very good at choosing joy. They are good at walking through the pain and hard times to come out the other end as an encourager. But some of them seldom have the welling in their heart that explodes into uncontrollable joy. This grieves God.

1 John 4:16, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them.”

God doesn’t want us to spend our lives choosing joy. He wants us to experience it. God wants us to feel the love He has for us. He wants us to love as He loves. He knows to do that we have to experience pain along the way.

1 John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us.”

To guard against that pain is to resign yourself to choosing joy, not experiencing it. Do you have the courage to love like God? What type of love does it take to endure the humiliation and pain of the cross? What does it take to be rejected by those you love most and have come to save? What does it take to love so deeply and so purely and still face their scorn?

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Do you have that courage? Will you allow yourself to be vulnerable enough to ride that roller coaster? Can you face the pain without anger or resentment?

I have to tell you that when God speaks to me about this, it’s incredible. I want to be them. I want to be loved and love as they are. But you see, I see my failings, I see my sin, my shame. I see the dark shadow in the mirror in front of me and say no, that is not for me.

I allow another greater sin. I authorize the evil one to blind my eyes. I believe that God’s love is only for the deserving and the great. A man like me can never be loved like that.

If I give you one thing this morning and this one thing sticks in your brain, know this: God loves you like that. God loves you with a passion and a purity that defies description. It will overwhelm your soul. It does not matter your past. It does not matter who you think you are. What matters is what God knows you to be.

This morning I am glad that God does not allow me to determine His love for me. I am blessed that I don’t get to set the boundaries. I am thankful that He does not see me as I see myself.

Folks, put aside the old self and allow God’s love to wash over you like a high tide. Fill your heart with desperation and longing for even more. Send your senses to the brink, to the edge of the great abyss, and fall in love. Feel the fear and thrill of being uncontrollably loved. Allow God to love you as no person can or ever will. You will become an addict and will never be the same.

I’m working on that. God has shown me the abyss, but I have not chosen to fall into it. I want to more than anything. I’m afraid that I am not worthy. That is why these people are in my life; to teach me that I am.

Romans 8:38, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love”.