Balancing Love

Reading: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…” Ecclesiastes 3v1-4a (NIV)

“You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might grand bear fruit – fruit that will last…” John 15v14-16a (NIV)

Prayer: Lord of all, I’m resting in the unknown of what time or season or activity there is at hand. I’m trusting (without forceful effort) by remaining. I’m trusting by remembering your goodness. I’m inviting my spirit to experience the Holy Spirit of truth which will guide me to all understanding.

Experience: As you go about your day today, remember that you are a human being. Rest, and breathe slowly and deeply and intentionally, knowing that God has made the first move toward your flourishing. God does this every time. Ask for wisdom and the discernment to know the timing of the season you’re in, but remain all the while. This is most difficult in times where we are suffering or experiencing confusing pain.

In order to understand the full human experience, as Jesus did, we are invited into a lived experience of grace and mercy. This can only take place in suffering as well as love, pleasure, abundance. It all belongs. It becomes transformed for our transformation and the real work occurs when we are awakened to the reality that everything made known to Jesus by the Father has been given to us. We possess the hidden truth in Christ that can withstand every season (birth, death (which leads to new birth), laughter, crying, dancing) and include every season into our faith journey.

Be honest about the season, about the letdown, about the failure. Be truthful in the reality of the hurt in the situation but, transcend it. Do not grow numb in bitterness or hopelessness. Move into and beyond it. Pass through it. And realize you are being sustained through it and you can release control, power, and fear.