Relationship & Love
“This is the world He has made. This is the world that is still going on. And He doesn’t walk away from the mess we’ve made of it. Now He lives, almost cheerfully, certainly heroically, in a dynamic relationship with us and with our world. ‘Then the Lord intervened’ is perhaps the single most common phrase about Him in Scripture, in one form or another. Look at the stories He writes. There’s the one where the children of Israel are pinned against the Red Sea, no way out, with Pharaoh and his army barreling down on them in murderous fury. Then God shows up. There’s Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who get rescued only after they’re thrown into the fiery furnace. Then God shows up. He lets the mob kill Jesus, bury Him…then He shows up. Do you know why God loves writing such incredible stories? Because He loves to come through. He loves to show us that He has what it takes.
It’s not the nature of God to limit His risks and cover His bases. Far from it. Most of the time, He actually lets the odds stack up against Him. Against Goliath, a seasoned soldier and a trained killer, He sends…a freckle-faced little shepherd kid with a slingshot. Most commanders going into battle want as many infantry as they can get. God cuts Gideon’s army from thirty-two thousand to three-hundred. Then He equips the ragtag little band that’s left with torches and watering pots. It’s not just a battle or two that God takes His chances with, either. Have you thought about His handling of the Gospel? God needs to get a message out to the human race, without which they will perish…forever. What’s the plan? First, He starts with the most unlikely group ever: a couple of prostitutes, a few fishermen with no better than a second-grade education, a tax collector. Then, He passes the ball to us. Unbelievable.
God’s relationship with us and with our world is just that: a relationship. As with every relationship, there’s a certain amount of unpredictability, and the ever-present likelihood that you’ll get hurt. The ultimate risk anyone ever takes is to love, for as C. S. Lewis says, ‘Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal.’ But God does give it, again and again and again, until His is literally bleeding from it all. God’s willingness to risk is just astounding–-far beyond what any of us would do were we in His position.”
~John Eldredge
“Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight.”
~Bruce Cockburn
It’s not the nature of God to limit His risks and cover His bases. Far from it. Most of the time, He actually lets the odds stack up against Him. Against Goliath, a seasoned soldier and a trained killer, He sends…a freckle-faced little shepherd kid with a slingshot. Most commanders going into battle want as many infantry as they can get. God cuts Gideon’s army from thirty-two thousand to three-hundred. Then He equips the ragtag little band that’s left with torches and watering pots. It’s not just a battle or two that God takes His chances with, either. Have you thought about His handling of the Gospel? God needs to get a message out to the human race, without which they will perish…forever. What’s the plan? First, He starts with the most unlikely group ever: a couple of prostitutes, a few fishermen with no better than a second-grade education, a tax collector. Then, He passes the ball to us. Unbelievable.
God’s relationship with us and with our world is just that: a relationship. As with every relationship, there’s a certain amount of unpredictability, and the ever-present likelihood that you’ll get hurt. The ultimate risk anyone ever takes is to love, for as C. S. Lewis says, ‘Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal.’ But God does give it, again and again and again, until His is literally bleeding from it all. God’s willingness to risk is just astounding–-far beyond what any of us would do were we in His position.”
~John Eldredge
“Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight.”
~Bruce Cockburn
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