The day is almost here! I am 5 days away from leaving the comforts and rountine of my everyday life. The days leading up to this departure have been savory and sweet. There’s always a sadness in goodbyes, but also a beautiful dependance and trust in leaving your people.
I was listening to the song from The Oh Hellos “I have made mistakes” the other day and felt like I needed some time to sit in the closing of one life chapter and opening of another.
The beginning of the song goes like this: “I have made mistakes / I have made mistakes, I continue to make them… / But nothing is a waste / Nothing is a waste if you learn from it.”
Have you ever thought that being a “christian” or “believer” or “Jesus follower” meant that you would have to give up a lot, a lot of stuff?
I did. It was like a subconscious thought of “Ok, if I say I am this person… that means I can’t do all of these big and small things that the world around me says is fun and carefree.”
So by saying “If I am..,” when the moments of messing up and making mistakes happen, the guilt comes flooding in because the expectation and “living up to” the imaginary bar set for yourself is not met.
But, when rightly understood, God’s commandments bring believers great joy and great freedom, not a sense of oppression. (1 John 5:3) He does not oppress. He does not withhold good. He does not keep from. He does not deprive.
He draws us in. He welcomes us. He brings joy. He brings freedom.
So I asked the Lord “Why then, do I think you withhold from me?”
Romans 12:16 “Never be wise in your own sight.”
What beautiful news that He meets us where we are. I want to see and be wise in my own sight, but by speaking and talking with Him, my sight gets redirected.
Like a dad that cheers with great enthusiasm when his son/ daughter merely swings the bat at a baseball game, our heavenly Father cheers us on with great enthusiasm.
He asked me to find the children’s book “Guess how much I love you.” I opened up the same book that was read to me many years ago, about a hare named Little Nutbrown who does everything he can to show Big Nutbrown just how much he loves him. He stretches his arms high, jumps with all his might, looks to the moon and says I love you that far. Big Nutbrown does exactly what Little Nutbrown does, always with greater height and width, saying “I love you this much, to the moon and back.”
Through this book, the Lord said “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12
As far as Little Nutbrown can reach, Big Nutbrown can reach farther and as far as we have steared and failed, our God has reached farther into His immeasurable love and compassion towards us through Christ.
Thank you for reading! I am $5,500 away from being fully funded! If you would like to walk alongside me in financial support, click the orange “Donate!” tab above. If you’d like to stay connected through this blog, subscribe at the top for email notifications and if you would like to pray, please pray for the next 5 days. That it would be filled with love for the ones around me and dilligence in acomplishing tasks!
