Are We Neglecting the Hard Things?

First, let me make it clear that this is not an official blog for the book Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. Absolutely not. I am just one of the many people who have read or are reading her book and finding that it is a life-changing experience. Her book has impacted my life to the point that it has inspired me to write about it, but that inspiration has been coming a long time, and I think this book is just the one that pushed it to the edge. Other books have changed my life, too, and I'm sure I'll mention other books such as My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis, and Get Out of that Pit by Beth Moore. I'll mention things I've learned from family, friends, pastors, and my grandsons. And, of course, I'll talk about things God has revealed to me Himself. Especially those, because, whether it was a book, a friend, a pastor, or a five-year old, it was actually God using those people to speak to me.

I read a review of the book Jesus Calling on Amazon in which the reviewer down-graded the book because the author writes in Jesus' voice but only has Him say things like "Rest, I'm with you, I love you, etc," but doesn't have Him talk about the hard things like our need to forgive others, to repent, to be chastised by God. He or she asked why Young only had Jesus call us to be alone with Him when we are called to be the Church.
I'm sure all of those are valid points, but I think the reviewer missed the point of the book. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have heard all the commands, chastisements, rules, and regulations all my life. What my church didn't often emphasize as I grew up were the things that Sarah Young is sharing with me in this book. I was in my 40s before I began to learn how to have a relationship with God. I knew all the rules I was supposed to follow, and I worked very hard on my own to follow them. Then I beat myself up for never being able to consistently be the Christian I thought I was supposed to be.



I heard over and over that Jesus died for us "while we were yet sinners," but the emphasis was not on a majestic God loving me no matter what; the emphasis was that I was a sinner and could hang up the idea of ever being lovable or worthy or getting it right. There's a fine line there, but, when you cross that fine line, you go from an emphasis on the knowledge that an awesome, majestic God loves me enough to do anything to have me with Him, to the heaviness of knowing I can never ever measure up. At least, that's what it did for me, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. What I didn't hear was that there is NOTHING I can do to make God love me more, and there's NOTHING I can do to make Him love me less. The whole point is that it's not about ME; it's ALL about HIM. God created me and is the lover of my soul. He knows me inside and out, and He LOVES me more than anyone else does or can. That doesn't give me license to forget Jesus' commands, the need for me to repent when I sin, or to forgive others who sin against me. It just makes me want even more to please a God who loves me that much.
A few years ago, I went through "The Walk to Emmaus." If you have never participated in this life-changing experience or one similar to it, RUN, don't walk to the nearest person you know who can tell you about how to get involved. At the time I went, I was just beginning to come out of a major episode of depression that lasted four years. I had learned to avoid the topic with Christians, because that's where I got the least support. I was told if I had enough faith, I wouldn't be depressed; that people were concerned about my spiritual condition; that true Christians didn't get depressed; and on and on. At a time when I needed Christians more than ever, I felt totally let down by them. Let me clarify: Not ALL Christians, but too many. I almost didn't go on the Walk to Emmaus because of that (spend the weekend with a whole passel of Christians?), but I thank God for the miraculous way He worked it out for me to go, and for the way He revealed His boundless love to me that weekend. One of the change-points of my life were the final words of my friend Heather Witte's testimony. I didn't know Heather until that weekend. I didn't know anything about her feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness. She gave one of the talks during the weekend, revealing to us how these negative feelings had at times kept her from enjoying a close relationship with God. Her last words will resonate in my brain forever: "I'm not worthy because of what I do. I'm worthy because I'm HIS."

Sarah Young is saying the same thing in Jesus Calling. The point of the book is that we CAN enjoy a daily close relationship with God. We CAN walk step-by-step with Him. We CAN draw away from the weariness of this life and rest in Him. We CAN learn how to trust Him rather than worry. We CAN trust Him enough to know that, no matter what we are going through, no matter how dismal our futures may look, He has a reason, and He WILL use it to bring about good whether we ever see it in this earthly life or not. We CAN trust Him to love us no matter how badly we mess up.
Now that I am older and have raised two wonderful sons and am now enjoying being part of the lives of the lights of my life, my grandsons, I find myself thinking about God from a parent's perspective. One thing I know for sure is that, no matter what my sons or grandsons might ever do, even if they messed up really bad, I would still want to have a relationship with them. I would still want them to come to me. I would still want them to talk with me. I love them that much. And I'm talking about my own limited human mother's love. How much more can we expect from God??

In the February 14 devotion entry in Jesus Calling, Sarah Young talks about walking boldly with our "ever-present Companion." It reminded me of one of those times that a child's wisdom brought me up short. When Chase was five, I told him that, when I was a little girl, I used to pretend that Jesus was my friend, that he came to my house and stayed with me and went everywhere I went. That He chose ME out of all the other people He could have chosen. When I sat down somewhere in a group, such as Sunday School, I would sit by an empty chair and pretend Jesus was sitting there beside me. Chase looked at me quizzically and asked, "Why did you have to pretend? He really is your friend. He really was there."
Why do we adults have to make this so hard? Why do we have so much trouble with this concept?
To that Amazon reviewer: In my experience, I find it's easier to hear the hard things that make me feel unworthy than to believe the "easy" things about how much God loves me and how much He wants a relationship with me.