Truth.Love.Hope.

Here’s the truth.  I love deeply.  I’m not ashamed until I’m shamed, and when you love deeply, the wounds are deeper when your love is rejected.  It’s hard to recover from such wounds.  It feels some days like they’ll never heal.  But I don’t lose hope. 

Hope has been my one constant friend.  Hope has wrapped its arms around me in the deepest despairing moments of my life.  Hope has shone its brilliant light in the darkest corners.  Hope hands me the key to unlocking the courage to love once more. 

Thankfully, we all have a God who loves deeply.  Not only that, He is Hope.  He is a healer of wounds.  He binds up the brokenhearted.  He fills in those deep, hidden places with His love where human love cannot reach. He gives us the power, acceptance, and affirmation we need to feel strong, secure, and worthy. 

There’s someone out there who needs my deep love and who will return it just as deeply.  There’s someone who won’t be afraid of this kind of love because it takes only the bravest of souls.  There’s someone who won’t hold back, who will take risks, and who will not be ashamed to love deeply. There is someone.  I know it.  I have Hope.

“And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

~Romans 5:5

MondayMoments...Rejection and Truth

"..be content with what you have for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Hebrews 13:5

So much truth hit me tonight...hard.  My small group and I are studying Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself, and tonight's video was all about REJECTION.  Not a fun topic, but a necessary one.  (If you've never done Living Beyond Yourself [this is actually my 3rd time!!] or if you've never ever done a Beth Moore Bible study, please don't hesitate and go! Do! You won't regret it!!!)

One truth that hit me straight to the center of my heart was that God never rejects us.  Let me say that again, GOD NEVER REJECTS US!  I didn't realize until tonight that I've been believing the falsehood that He does.  I have felt rejected by God.  Why?  Oh, because He hasn't answered my prayers or answered them in the way I wanted Him to, because hardships continue to following me like stray dogs, because I don't always get what I want, because the love I give out to others isn't reciprocated or appreciated, because I feel my efforts are in vain and not rewarded, because physical suffering has come upon me and I did nothing to deserve it, because I've felt alone and unwanted, etc., etc., etc.

Can anyone relate?  I have had such a long list of disappointments that I've not just been blaming God for them, but I've also been feeling rejected by Him.  Why else would I have such a list, right? Wrong.

God never leaves us or forsakes us (Heb.13:5).  Never.  He sacrificed His own Son--rejected Him!--so that you and I would never be rejected.  Why?  Because He chose us to be His own.  He loves us that much.  So, though I may feel rejected because of all my disappointments, God isn't rejecting me, He's loving me.  He's loving me enough to allow things in my life to bring me to see my need for Him.  He's loving me enough to allow disappointments to bring me to His appointed purpose.  He's loving me, not rejecting me.  And He's doing the same for you.

Truth is so freeing...I'm free to value the unfailing love of God by being thankful for the failing love of man.  I'm free to love deeply at the risk of rejection because even if my love is rejected by man, it is received by God.  I'm free to be content with what I have even if what I have is a long list of disappointments.  I'm free to fully accept God's love.
I am free.