Sunday, 28 February 2010
Reflections ...
There are moments in life that lend themselves perfectly to reflection; today is one of them. It is cold and wet and grey and it feels like we've been living in winter forever. It's tempting to complain, but then I'm reminded that we have a roof over our heads, so we are dry: the house has double-glazing so we are warm; and the sun will be out tomorrow. Moreover, as I look out through the living room windows, I see the trees at the edge of the village that will grow even more beautiful because of the rain ...
I have three sons and I love them all. In some ways they are very similar: if you line them up, you will be able to tell that they are brothers; they love sport and music; they are fiercely competitive and they enjoy the same films. However, they are also very different: Christopher is the most gifted; Timothy is the most determined and focused and Daniel, he has some of Christopher’s giftedness, some of Timothy’s determination and focus, and a great heart for people.
Sometimes I give one son more time, other times I give one more money (not often). Does this mean that I love the others less? Of course not! My love for them is not a finite entity that is limited to a concept like percentages; I don’t have to limit my love for one in order to love the other. Yet how often do questions much like these impact on and cloud our relationship with and understanding of God. We measure our importance to Him by how well we’ve done (or not) or the extent to which our experiences mirror those of people around us. So, when life takes a detour or our dreams don’t come true in the way that we had hoped, we flounder; we doubt; we question.
The truth is simple: ‘you have never ceased to be important and beautiful to God. Even though you have grown older, God still sees in you the heart of a child. Even though you have changed, even though your beauty may have faded, God’s heart still swells with love for you. Even though you have wandered far away from Him, His wish for you is still that you come back to Him and love Him as He loves you. He created you to love you, and He has a special place in His heart for you. He will love you for all eternity.’ (Adapted from the website: A Grain of Wheat)
Sometimes we make life way too complicated: we analyse and rationalise instead of just trusting that our Heavenly Father loves us, that He made us in His image and we can measure our worth by the fact that He was willing to give Himself to win us back to Himself. The truth is simple: He has no favourites.
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