Too often I meet people who are
destroyed by the unfaithfulness of people in their life. They are abused by a
parent, disappointed by decisions made for them by those in authority over
them, abandoned by a spouse, traumatized by infidelity, or overwhelmed by grief
from some loss in their life.
Through life's trials, I have
learned that all people are inherently untrustworthy. You and I fall into that
category as well. We never know how we will act or react to a moment of
temptation and weakness. Yet, God calls us to love unconditionally.
If we withhold trust and love
from others because we are wounded or fear the potential of being hurt, we
cheat our self. We erect walls around our emotions and function in life from
our mind only.
We refuse to feel anything
because life is too painful for us. We do not emotionally invest in anyone, not
even our spouse, children or church family. We simply show love by doing acts
of service for them.
This attitude makes us feel like
we are a success and doing our duty to others. Yet, this is a substitute at
best - failing to fulfill us at the deepest levels of our soul.
We hide behind arrogance, which actually
makes us more vulnerable and increases our load of unwanted emotional baggage.
We collect the incidents of abuse in our soul and hold grudges, forgiving with
our mind but never from our heart.
God is the only entity in life
that we can truly trust. He always has our best interest at heart. Even if He
disciplines us or allows life to bruise us, He never allows life to totally
break us (Isaiah 42:3).
This makes life worth the risk of
allowing our self to be vulnerable to hurt, in order to experience the joy of
unfettered love and acceptance. We can even more freely love our self if we
allow our self to love others (Mark 12:30-31).
Prayer:
Father God, our soul can only
find our true and complete rest in You alone. You are our only salvation and
constant comfort and strength. You alone are our rock and fortress. No matter
what life throws at us, we will never be shaken as long as we keep our focus on
You (Psalm 62:1).
Remind us that it is easier to
forgive others when we realize that they are as vulnerable and human as we are.
We can actually expect to be wounded by other people, but it hurts less when we
have our faith in You rather than in our fellow sojourners in this life. You
give us Your agape love to share with the world and it is healing and complete.
Thought for the Day:
God is our only help and shield from
the inherent pain life brings (Psalm 33:20), because He alone is our strength
in times of trouble (Psalm 37:39), and our courage in this insecure world
(Psalm 130:5); we wait in silence before Him and find our hope only in Him
(Psalm 62:5).
