I've often wondered why God doesn't show us more often and in real ways that He loves us and has been there for us. (Maybe He does and I'm just not seeing all of them.) I've got this plaque in my house that reads, "I asked Jesus, 'How much do you love me?' 'This much,' He answered, and He stretched out His arms - and died." Many days it seems to me that God has shown me how much He loves me, once, two-thousand years ago and that is just going to have to be enough for me. It reminds me of the joke that was told at my wedding: "Lena asked Ole, 'Why don't you tell me you love me?' Ole answered, 'I told you I loved you on our wedding day. If that changes, I'll let you know.'" But we all would like to hear that we're loved more often than that. But do we need to hear it if we know it? Do we need to hear it, see it, experience everyday just the same or are we as a race just too insecure?
Reading through the Old Testament of the Bible this morning, I realized I've read time and again the repetition of what God has done for his people told over and over to them by Moses and then Joshua. It seems that Israel needed reminding of what God had done for them in order to keep them on the right path toward life. Maybe that's just how God does things. Maybe He does things for us and then we just need to keep a record of them in and for our own lives. Maybe we all need that reminder to help us know that God is real and He does love us and has loved us everyday.
I asked God once what He thought I was or what He thought I should be and I remember clearly God speaking to my heart and -as always -The Voice said one simple work that really spoke volumes to me. He said, "Father." I often wonder if I should try music again as a career or maybe embark on some other time or energy consuming endeavor, but I have this feeling that whatever else I begin, will probably immediately fail as so many other things have in my life. The one thing that I don't have to try, the one thing that I don't have to worry whether I can be good at, the one thing that I already am, without much effort on my part, the one thing that I've been called to - the role of being a dad to my boys - is just here. I'm just in it. I am their dad and I believe that God has not only called me to just be their dad right now, but He has called me to be a good dad. He has called me not only to "Father" my kids, but I also believe that in that calling He was calling me to Him as a "Father." God is calling me to experience Him as a good Father, so that I can be see what one looks like, be encouraged and try that much harder to be a good dad to my kids, and through that example they can see how much their good Dad in heaven loves them. I also believe that when or if God wants me to be something else, only then will He tell me. I've asked Him since then what He thinks I should be or if I should start something new and I always get silence. So, maybe the old joke of, "I told you once how I felt and if that ever changes, I'll let you know," is indeed exactly how God does things. He told me once to be a father and if that ever changes, He'll let me know.
Reading through the Old Testament of the Bible this morning, I realized I've read time and again the repetition of what God has done for his people told over and over to them by Moses and then Joshua. It seems that Israel needed reminding of what God had done for them in order to keep them on the right path toward life. Maybe that's just how God does things. Maybe He does things for us and then we just need to keep a record of them in and for our own lives. Maybe we all need that reminder to help us know that God is real and He does love us and has loved us everyday.
I asked God once what He thought I was or what He thought I should be and I remember clearly God speaking to my heart and -as always -The Voice said one simple work that really spoke volumes to me. He said, "Father." I often wonder if I should try music again as a career or maybe embark on some other time or energy consuming endeavor, but I have this feeling that whatever else I begin, will probably immediately fail as so many other things have in my life. The one thing that I don't have to try, the one thing that I don't have to worry whether I can be good at, the one thing that I already am, without much effort on my part, the one thing that I've been called to - the role of being a dad to my boys - is just here. I'm just in it. I am their dad and I believe that God has not only called me to just be their dad right now, but He has called me to be a good dad. He has called me not only to "Father" my kids, but I also believe that in that calling He was calling me to Him as a "Father." God is calling me to experience Him as a good Father, so that I can be see what one looks like, be encouraged and try that much harder to be a good dad to my kids, and through that example they can see how much their good Dad in heaven loves them. I also believe that when or if God wants me to be something else, only then will He tell me. I've asked Him since then what He thinks I should be or if I should start something new and I always get silence. So, maybe the old joke of, "I told you once how I felt and if that ever changes, I'll let you know," is indeed exactly how God does things. He told me once to be a father and if that ever changes, He'll let me know.
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