Tuesday, August 3, 2010

We Don't Know What to Do With God

The other day, I saw my friend Nick tell a little two-year-old girl that she looked cute. She looked pretty. The little girl blushed, smiled, and turned her head trying to hide. This is all she knew how to do. She was so happy for the affirmation and yet embarrassed at the same time. She didn't know what to do with a man telling her she was pretty.

We do the same with God. I remember a conversation I had with a friend of mine. I'd just met her at the time. I could tell she was struggling with believing that the God of the universe cared about her. I said, "Jesus fought and died for you. Do you really believe you could ever do anything horrible enough to make him think poorly of you? I mean, He fought and died for you. How could you ever mess things up enough when He's already done that for you? How could you ever screw things up enough or make such a wrong decision that it would revoke the heart He already has for you?"

My friend didn't blush, smile, or turn her head trying to hide, like our little two-year-old that my friend Nick blessed with words of beauty, but my friend was doing so in her mind. I could see the wheels spinning. She'd never really been confronted with the bestowal of beauty upon her by God that she could never retract.

Here's the truth. None of us know what to do with this kind of love. God bestows beauty upon us. He bestows strength upon us. We don't know what to do. We feel so happy. We feel so embarrassed. Francis Chan says, "The God of the universe loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And, what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss. Whether or not you've verbalized it or not... we all know something's wrong."*

If we are to become like little children, as Jesus says, then maybe we need to clue-in-onto this little girl's reaction. In her innocence, our little two-year-old friend simply turns, blushes, and tries to hide. She doesn't know what to do with such love.

Why do we keep trying to act like we do?
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*Francis Chan is author of the book "Crazy Love"

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