Our God has a great sense of
humour, and through it, He clearly indicates how much He loves us. During a
concert at Kingdom Bound I noticed that at times the large side screens would
display people from the audience worshipping God. A thought slipped into my mind
"This would never happen to me. I am too scary to look at!"
As soon as this thought became a conscious one, both
my oldest son and I were being reflected from those very side boards. It must
have been because of my son's good looks! And that very night it happened a
second time!
The message I received from this is that God cares!
He does indeed care and as His child, He cares for you
as well!
Too many times, however, we are disappointed in
ourselves and these disappointments tend to hide the reality that our Father
still loves us. We wonder "Can God truly love me when I don't even like myself?"
Too often we forget that God doesn't love us for our performance, but for who we
truly are: His own children!
Would I reject my own child if he acted foolishly? All
of us have behaved irrationally from time to time, especially when you have a
son who likes to be called "McGyver"! There is no way I would ever reject him
just because he makes poor decisions once in a while. He is my son, and I can't
help it if I love him for life.
The truth is that our God is at work in our hearts. We
may not see it, but He is! Just like I am patiently guiding my son in the right
direction in life, God is very patiently leading us. His love for us drives Him!
This is His promise for each one of us: "Now the Lord
is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we,
who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into
his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the
Spirit." (2 Cor 3:17-18 NIV)
It is true that when we look in the mirror of our
heart, we sometimes seem to look at a monster. Don't we all fall short of the
mark from time to time? Let's not despair, God is patiently transforming us
"into His likeness." We may not even be aware of how changed we are from our
days of utter foolishness, but we are changed and we are still changing and this
is not our doing! Our Father is preparing us for something grandiose!
Eventually we will come to our senses and notice the
reflection of God's grace in our lives. Then we will be able to utter what Jesus
declared while living on our planet: "The world must learn that I love the
Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me." (John 14:31 NIV)
Only then will we be able to join King David and
clearly testify: "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my
heart." (Ps 40:8 NIV)
We are not monsters! We are works of art, patiently
being chiselled into our Father's likeness.
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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