Dear Melanie,
Come, my daughter and sit with me awhile. I know this was a hard month for you, but I had my hand on you the entire time. In your brokenness, you got a glimpse of my love for you. Do you see it now?
Through this month I taught you about leadership as a means of empowering, not controlling; Leadership with present-mindedness, not avoidance; leadership in love, not in obligation; leadership with confidence, not fear; Leadership authority from me, not from man; leadership with a quiet heart, not with stress. Melanie, I have made you leader for such a time as this – please start walking in it. I have given you strength for each day – depend on me.
I forgive you for your harshness, stubbornness, your pride, for acting like a pharisee, a white washed tomb. And I forgive you for living in a stressed, frantic, need-to-be-perfect state. You want to be perfect because you don’t think you can lead unless you are blameless, but you don’t understand that your authority comes from me alone – not from your fruitless attempts at living above reproach. Really, Melanie, this unholy passion for self-redemption makes you worse – as you labor through unnecessary demands on yourself, your team suffers, you suffer, and our relationship suffers.
Daughter, you cannot save yourself. You don’t even need to. Drop the legalistic religion, and pick up a loving relationship with my Son. Jesus is the only way and he has already done the work so stop trying to earn my love. I love you, Melanie, and there is nothing you can do to make me love you more or less. Just sit at my feet and rest. Cease from your vain labors and trust me to guide the work of your hands.
Finally, Melanie, be joyful!! As I said to the Israelites after their sin was exposed through the law, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). I have come that you may have joy, a complete un-circumstantial, joy! Trust the work I am doing in your life, in your heart, in your mind. Trust the work I am doing in your teammates, in your family, in your loved ones. Trust me, find rest in my arms, and let me move through you.
With a jealous love,
God
