The Loving Heart of God

Father Heart of God
Water. Real, wet water naturally existing in the desert. We hiked up a Mount Charleston incline steady yet steep enough to leave us panting for breath when we came to this mini oasis. There was life - some plants and more small bugs than I've seen my whole trip (minus the roaches).

Some people began climbing the waterfall. This feat required strength, length, and the ability utilize the few footholds available via log and stone and to maneuver in between some of the gaps. I wanted to be able to climb to the top, but it looked pretty intense, and would have been quite a jagged fall. Simon, a great, fatherly man from Uganda, asked if I wanted to go up. I was feeling quite fragile. I said it would be awesome, but I don't necessarily feel compelled to. He said "I will go up for your sake."

The climb up and back was quite difficult, but possible because of Simon's direction and help. It was SO worth it. It was beautiful up there - beautiful water dancing between the rocks, birds soaring into the crevice where we were and into the clear, blue sky. Wow. God is beautiful. My heart began to feel the loving Father heart of God through Simon's desire to help me where I couldn't climb to experience the magnificent beauty of God. God knows what I can and can't do; He knows what I desire. He knows I can't do what I'd love to do, but meets me where I fling myself and directs my feet to meet Him in His beauty. He wants to experience the climb with me, and He does.
Photo cred: Meredith Kinney
In pic: Josh Stateham

Lessons Learneding
DTS = Discipleship Training School or Die to Self. Amen! This week, my heart has been so tried and exercised. Wow.

Honestly, to try to portray everything I've learned would be to write thousands of pages and sacrifice my writing style for the sake of typing it all in a short period of time. We'll start with this little bit.

Free to Bring Life and Death
God has been plunging into my heart and has been making me aware of the assumptions that have kept me from knowing who He really is and being close to Him.

He truly does love all of the time. He genuinely does not want us to be hurt, to be oppressed, nor to hurt others. He did not want me to be abused, He did not plan for people to rape others, for fathers to leave, for mothers to abandon, He does not set people up to be beaten and killed, does not create people for others to harvest their organs or force them into refugee camps. This breaks His heart. But He can not "fix" or "stop" it because He loved us enough to give us free will.

That is a strange and sour statement after such a grotesque paragraph. Let me explain.

Jeff Pratt eloquently explained this concept by portraying a story. There was a high prince who was loved, awed, feared, and revered throughout all of his kingdom. Yet, he fell in love with a mere peasant girl. If the prince were to approach her in all of his majesty, she would either feel compelled to marry him because of his stature out of plainly fear, awe, or obligation, but not out of genuine love. She may feel unworthy because of how lowly she is in comparison. But he loved her as she was so dearly. He could not simply go out, bring her to his castle, and bring her up to where he was, because of the previously stated reasons, so he decided to lower himself, take off his crown, and win her heart as a humble man. This enabled her to have the free will to love him or reject him out of her own will.

This story explains God's disposition to us in salvation as well as every day life and decisions. We can choose to embrace God, fall utterly in love with Him and His lifestyle, and strive to live more and more in His essence and ways, or we can turn from Him and build up walls to keep us from Him. This is our will. We are free to love Him and choose life, and we are free to build walls and bring destruction. Both happen from all of us. Both actions result in consequences for ourselves and others. God gave us the power to do this. We make mistakes that lead to mistrust, coldness, hardness, hate, abuse, murder, et cetera.

Yet there is hope. God's heart still breaks over us, and He still desperately loves, wants, and desires to redeem us and to call us the names He made for us. While we bring the hurt, He also enables us to intercede and bring life and hope back to those who have been oppressed. Wow. There is hope. There is life. Change can happen.

The Holy Spirit is in us, amen! God calls us to be His friend, to press into Him, follow Him through His joys and pains, and to move where He calls us to to bring back His children. His children He created so beautifully, wonderfully, and fearfully. The royalty who have been abused, have been lied to, have been called desolate, stupid, abused, victim, unworthy, filthy, unloved - lied to! He wants to call them back by the names He gave them - loved, worthy, righteous, innocent, lovely, redeemed, clean, healed, and desired. We have the Holy Spirit in us to speak these truths and life back into His people.

So what's stopping us!? Yes we are all broken, we all hold misconceptions that keep us from the truth of God's life and love. But let's dare to press into God. Let's allow Him to search our hearts, bring up these things, and in it's time sort through it and bring us closer to understanding His good essence. Let's grow. God, pour into us Your truth so we can pour it out into others! So many are missing out on this expansive, rockin, out of this world love that brings back life, unity, peace, and ultimate glory to the Giver and Maker of Love. Gah, I can't even express.