-{{Beautiful & Fragrant}}- ...& drawing *OTHERS* in

This really challenged me, and what better way to further work it out than to share it with others...so now it’s in my blog J

      The LORD says, "I will cure them of their unfaithfulness. I will love them freely. I will no longer be angry with them. I will be like dew to the people of Israel. They will blossom like flowers. They will be firmly rooted like cedars from Lebanon.  They will be like growing branches. They will be beautiful like olive trees. They will be fragrant like cedars from Lebanon.  They will live again in God's shadow. They will grow like grain. They will blossom like grapevines. They will be as famous as the wines from Lebanon.

Hosea 14:4-7

God promises a whole lot of things in this passage.  He promises to cure us of our unfaithfulness, to love us freely, to forgive us (not be angry with us), and to sustain us (be like dew). 

The cool thing is that these promises came with results.  We will blossom and become all He intended us to be.  We will be firmly rooted, certain of who we are and whose we are.  We will constantly be growing, more into His likeness.  Our lives will be beautiful and fragrant – a testimony of the glory and grace of God.  And we will live in God’s shadow, under His protection.

However, when I read this passage, something didn’t add up.  We know that God is constant and faithful, and that He keeps the promises He makes.  So we therefore know that our unfaithfulness IS cured, we ARE forgiven, we ARE sustained regardless of the season or situations we find ourselves in, and my favourite, we are FREELY loved...unconditionally, irrevocably, more than we can understand or even begin to grasp.  Because His word says so.  But if this is the case, that means we should be seeing the “results” too...right?  The church should be filled with LOADS of Christians who are blossoming, growing, certain of their identity and living beautifully fragrant lives.  So why do we see so many Christians who aren’t displaying these qualities at all?  Sure, they’re faithful, but so many are still hurting and struggling, uncertain of who they are and unclear on what amazing things God has planned for their life.  Why?

Perhaps it’s because they don’t know.  I mean, it’s not like they haven’t heard the promises...but perhaps they don’t really believe them.  Not on purpose of course.  It goes back to the head versus the heart idea...we know what the bible says, we sit in church on a Sunday and hear about it, but we doubt that it could REALLY be true for our lives.  Could God really love ME freely...unconditionally, no strings attached?  Could God really forgive ME?  While every one of us has been through this at some point, it is not meant to be a place that we stay in.  God wants us to flourish. 

This just made me realise there is SO much need, even within the church.  I thought of that verse about the harvest being great and the workers few.  I know it relates to spreading the gospel, but I think it could be relevant here also.  Considering that workers are so few, we should be paying extra special attention to that which God cares about most: people.  You see, love is an action, faith is an action.  And while changing lives is God’s business, He can certainly use us in the process... that is, if we make ourselves available.  I think that’s what hit me the most out of all of this...am I available to be used by God?  Am I seeing the need?  What am I doing to make a difference in others lives?  I mean, I don’t proclaim to have it all together, but I know that it’s because of others reaching out to me that I am where I am today.  Were it not for their love and faith, I might not have come to understand the grace and love of God the way I do now.  Are we seeing the need? 

The great thing is, although the church exists for the lost, hurting, lonely, and broken, ultimately God wants to see every one of His kids certain of who and whose they are, and living out the amazing plans He has for their lives...blossoming, beautiful, fragrant lives.  But we can’t do it alone...nobody was ever meant to “go it alone”.  We were designed for relationship, and God wants to use us in the lives of others.

The question is...are we making ourselves available?  Are we drawing others in?

The {HEART} versus the {HEAD}

God is faithful, but do we believe it?  It’s so easy to give lip-service to truths we know in our heads, but do we truly believe them?  Have we had a heart revelation?  Spurgeon once said that an ounce of heart revelation is worth FAR more than a ton of head knowledge.  I think that so often as Christians we [head] know stuff but we don’t [heart] understand it. 

Perhaps only a personal experience of God’s faithfulness can help us to [heart] understand what we [head] know.  But judging from my own experience, and looking at the example of the Israelites in the Old Testament COUNTLESS times, this is not always the case.  We are a forgetful people.  We forget how faithful God is and has been in our lives.

I accepted Jesus just under eight years ago, and looking back over the past most amazing 8 years of my life, I can see God’s hand and faithfulness all the way.  Yet, in the biggest things I still sometimes struggle at times to believe that He will come through.  It’s like I have this timeline of how I think my life should pan out...ministry, marriage and all of that.  The thing is God is working on a WHOLE other timeline that is far better than any timeline or plan I could dream up.  And I DO know that His plan for our lives is AMAZING.  I’ve seen the start of mine and it’s been pretty mind-blowing thus far.  I also know that I cannot imagine a more awful fate than not living out all He has called me to.  I mean, imagine being 50 and looking back on your life with regrets?  All because you decided to go on your own mission because you failed to trust the perfection of God’s timing and plan?  The thought makes me sick.

While in this frame of mind, it makes complete and utter sense to trust.  But at times I still find myself questioning whether He will come through.  Perhaps the key is to continually meditate on Him and His promises...to continually remind myself of the countless times He HAS been faithful.  To renew my mind.  That’s biblical...surprise surprise the bible makes sense!! haha J  One thing I know for certain though...the Love I live for is greater than any love I could receive from another person.  And for that reason, I will continue to sacrifice, serve, love, be faithful, and most of all: be patient.  Because when God’s plan works itself out in the area I am trusting for, it will be so perfect and so sweet, that I will even regret this time of questioning.