January 26, 2012

Without Fail




Here's one thing I love:

Fact.
The absolute.
That which is stable, unvarying, fixed.

Why?

Because fixed and faithful and sturdy is exactly what I am NOT and exactly what this world fails to deliver as well.

It was one of the things that God used to make me His: inimitable, absolute truth.  Something, FINALLY, to really trust in and stand on.  A rock my wandering wave-self could crash and be broken on.  Relief from the paralyzing, painted hoax of myself and the world around me.

So for those of us who crave what is certain, God gives us this simple little statement from 1 Corinthians:

Love never fails.

That word "fails", in greek, means "to fall powerless, to fall to the ground, to be without effect."  The definition gives the picture of a withering flower.

I never took a physics class so forgive me for an oversimplification, but the way I understand "energy" in this universe, is that it "never dies."  It just takes on new forms.  The sun feeds the grass, the grass feeds the cow, the cow feeds man, when man dies, he feeds the ground i.e. the grass and it keeps going.

This is a perfect metaphor for love and it NEEDS to encourage us.
And this is how:

Your relative that you have a hard time with who treats you awfully.
The checker at the store who's always in a bad mood.
A rebellious child making destructive decisions.
Your coworkers who think you're crazy for being a Christian.
The unstable ground of any relationship.

They are not above this truth.  They do not have more power than the way God set up his universe.  You cannot stop energy and you cannot stop God's agape love.  It may FEEL like people around you don't listen and don't care and don't respond to the love you give... but keep giving it.  Keep it up defiantly.  "Do not be overcome by evil, " writes Paul the apostle, "but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21).

No, the effect of love may not be seen right now.  Sometimes it can be seen immediately, but most of the time love takes years to change us.  God was not intimidated by the years it would take for us to come to Him and we need to have that same patience for others.

Don't ever think you're wasting your life when God has moved His love out and through you.  Because even if that love seems like it's not affecting the crushed and crumbling hearts around you, it will at least be changing yours.  God never works on just one level.

Martin Luther wrote as part of his 95 theses:

"by works of love, love grows and a man becomes a better man."

So take heart, little pilgrim.  You will not- will NOT- fail if love flows out from you. 

You may not see the results you desire, but you will know more of your God's heart than when you started and you will be living a life based on fact that is stronger and older than this universe we live in... a most refreshing state, indeed, no matter what transpires around us.




3 comments:

Robin said...

i really needed to find this sweet morsel in my blog reader right now. thanks.

give me a couple of days and i'll call you. i'd love to talk to you.

Faith said...

Even when a person choses not return your love: never quit. Love will never return void. When we hold on to bitterness and anger it will change our hearts and our lives.......we cannot live waiting for others to change, but we can live loving them.....and praying God will change the situation. The Bible tells us that love never fails and love never changes.....What an amazing promise.....sometimes that means many tears and lots of prayer and sometimes it means wondering if those prayer will ever be answered, but we must trust in God....He is the way, the truth and the light......

Faith said...

*prayers*