More thoughts on Love

Last night in Bible Study we were talking about our understanding of the world and God's understanding. We were reading the passage about John the Baptist in prison, sending his disciples to Jesus to ask him if he was indeed the one that they had been waiting on (Matthew 11:2-11) We discussed what it must have been like to be in prison and wondering if he were the real Messiah and how we look at our own personal problems. And then this thought hit me, when we go through struggles, it's like when a child is in the backseat, trying to get their juice box open asking for help, all the time the driver is trying their best to avoid a ten car accident that is occurring in front of them. We are so focused on our small passing concerns and desires that we never even realize the real struggle that is going on around us. This fight that we Christians undergo is not against things of this world. It's not really about getting the rent paid or achieving the best education, the struggle that is going on is a spiritual one. One that we are mainly oblivious to in our day to to day lives. Sometimes we get glimpses of it and call it spiritual warfare. And when we pass through those moments we are tucked under the wing of God while He does all the real work.

That is love. God protects us from a lot of things that we will never be aware of. He moves within our lives protecting and caring for us, all the while we are sitting in the backseat asking for help with our juice box. Here is the love part, God is so big and so caring that if that were the reality, God could and would reach into the backseat and help us with that juice box, all the while navigating that pile up with ease. He loves us so much, that he stoops down and attends to our small desires and needs even in the midst of this battle that is going on all around us.

This time of Advent is an invitation for us to stoop down and help others in their needs, regardless of how trivial they may seem to us. Because when we are in the middle of our need with no obvious way to meet it, that feeling is paralyzing. God wants us to help the lame to walk, he wants us to share the love that he has given us so freely with others. When we can't see a solution, he wants us to help the blind see. When we've heard so much bad news we just stop listening, he wants us to help the deaf hear. He wants us to be his love in this world. We have been given a great honor is sharing the most wonderful gift that could ever be.

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