a view through annie's eyes

Spiritual leaders who teach that I am here to solve your problems and make your lives comfortable and prosperous underestimate the energy (and badly misunderstand the nature) of unholiness in the human heart that I must severely deal with to get you to My party. And that underestimation leads them to underestimate the severity of My love. My servant C. S. Lewis got it right: I’m not safe, but I am good. I will not coddle you any more than a good surgeon only hugs a cancer-stricken child. I will not coddle you, but I will purify you. And that takes more, not less, than a hug. (Larry Crabb, 66 Love Letters)

All of these years walking with God, and yet I am certain I do not know Him well enough. I still grumble and worry about today. So much more is at stake. Eternity will come soon enough, and I need to get a few things straight here on earth.  Knowing the severity of God’s love is not an easy task for thinkers, theologians, philosophers, and certainly not for ordinary people. But the acceptance of it as the Gift it was intended to be is the most beautiful, well within reach thing I know. Though hard to understand, the ease of His accessibility to me to grasp His Love as my Life-line is all part of the Grace, part of the Divine.

Lord, may I not want comfort as much as I want more of You. Help me to seek prosperity in Your terms, the richness and eternal weight of Glory. As You reveal the magnitude of Your holy nature, I love you more and more. I am more convinced today that I only need the eternal things. I am more satisfied in Your Love. I am more at peace with the injustices of this world because I know You are not a god of injustice, and all will be made right—it need not be a concern of mine. But my own sin needs to be addressed now. You paid a huge price for it, and I am in desperate need of Your perfect atoning Sacrifice to sanctify me and ready me for that great eternal Party we’ll know one glorious Day. For today is but a vapor, and the things of this world less real than the beautiful reality of Your relentless love for me. May my only response be gratitude and worship. In the powerful and sanctifying Name, Jesus Christ, Amen.