So if I had to pick a common theme of
what God has been teaching me so far on this trip it would have to be
love. Not only have I learned what true love really is and how to
love people with this love, but I’ve also learned the importance of
love. Love is everything. If love is suddenly taken from the
Christian equation then we would have no grace, no hope, no
salvation, no joy and no God because God is love(1 John 4:16). Love
is the foundation of everything that makes our lives worth living.
It’s no coincidence that when Jesus sums up the entire law in two
commands they both focus on loving(Matthew 22:37-40). What God has
been really teaching me this month is the importance of loving Him
more then anything of this world, and that when you truly love Him
with your whole heart that is the ultimate blessing.
Earlier this month I was pretty sick
for a few days. Being sick is the best and the fastest way to get
homesick. All I could think about while I couldn’t sleep laying on
my sleeping mat was, “Man, if I was home I’d be in my bed and mom
would be making me potato soup.” So that night I went outside and
whined to God. I was actually pretty torn because I left so much to
come follow God here and as a blessing to me for this He has given me
so much to go home to. But He’s given them to me so early in the
trip I want to be home now. It was then that God spoke and shared
that He wanted me to love Him more then anything in this world. It
was then that He began instructing me on how loving Him more then any
person or thing gives you the most freedom.
So after that night my fever broke and
I began feeling better. So I wasn’t really sure how to love God
more. So like any other relationship I just started spending more
time with Him. But that was just the beginning. As I began spending
more time with Him and asking Him to help me love Him He began
revealing things to me that I didn’t like. He began uprooting fears
that were lying in my heart. They were fears that I either were not
aware of or were aware of but didn’t think they were a big deal. He
lead me to Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and
courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the
Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” I realized that this
wasn’t just a command to Joshua before he lead the Israelites into
the promise land, but it is also a command to me and everyone else
who follows God.
So after a lot of praying and asking
God how he expects me to leave behind this fear that I’ve carried
with me most of my life, He tells me how to find the freedom I’m
searching for. Ironically it’s the same answer He gave me at the
beginning of the month when I wanted to go home…love Him. He led
me to 1 John 4:18 which says “There is no fear in love, but
perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and
whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” Thats when I knew
that I had not been perfected in love. Jesus says the greatest
commandment is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart. So
it makes sense that if your loving God with all your heart then there
would be no room for any fear to reside there. Because like any
relationship, with love comes trust.
So really loving God more then
anything in the world is it’s own blessing. Because with that comes
trust that He truly is with you wherever you go, trust that He would
not ask of you more then you can deliver, and anything that you give
up over to Him He will always give back better then when you handed
it over to Him. Because during the times when we doubt God the most,
are usually the times we forget the most important thing. God loves
us more then anything in this world also. And like any father in
love with His children or any bridegroom and love with His bride. He
is also with us, He loves to bless us and He knows whats best for us
even when we can’t see it.
