February 10, 2014
May we stop and remember and appreciate the Greatest Love…
“And here is how to measure it—the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.” NLT John 15:13
Love is costly…It requires all; It requires everything; It covers a multitude of mistakes;
It covers intentional choices…It covers a multitude of faults…
Love is life-giving, life-refreshing, life-sustaining.
May we stop and remember and appreciate the Greatest Love…
Time Became My Friend…
The Father sent Him with a heart of love, to walk as Kingdom Light…
The Father sent Him to show the way to captives of the night…
To wrap His arms of compassion round the broken and the lost…
To stretch out His arms and His Hands…never counting the cost.
The Father sent Him with imprints carved into His Hands,
Paying the price for the soul of every woman, child and man.
The Father sent Him into the hearts of those who cry and seek…
Into the lives of the people who are helpless and weak.
Yes, His Time is in His Father’s Hands and Time becomes our friend…
As we trust Him to spend the Time to heal the souls of men.
Time Became My Friend…
As children, we often wish away our youth, or at least the moments of the present… waiting to get taller, older, wiser, smarter, bigger, happier…waiting for life to not hurt so much. We find ourselves embracing thoughts of the future producing the success…the accumulation of better moments and the projection of happiness. Ambition and purpose and objectives and dreams…And, time becomes our friend when we are waiting for the best things…for the best purposes…for God’s best…and when we embrace the present moments…no matter what the circumstances…trusting in God’s best…embracing the choice to live on…not knowing where we are going.
All of you have discovered that life is difficult and challenging and sometimes painful but…Time Becomes our Friend… “And it came to pass….”
Love is never wasted…the kind of love that reaches into a life…the kind of love which gives…love which sacrifices…love which pays a price…love which is selfless…love which does the right thing…love which pours out, without expectation of a return or a response…unconditionally…without limit or without condition…Agape…the God-love. Love is never wasted.
This does not mean that it is painless. Rather, our Christ Yeshua paid the ultimate price because of His love for His Heavenly Father and His love for the lives and souls of hardened hearts and His love for those who loved Him…There was no prerequisite for His life…for His choice…for His sacrifice other than God’s perfect Time. He came, He chose, He obeyed, He loved, and He went to the cross…unconditionally for every man. And we were given the opportunity to make a choice as to what we did with His life…as to what we do with our lives… “And it came to pass…” Luke 24:4
And Time Became Our Friend…The Greatest Love…
With the passing of time, I look at my father’s wedding band with new understanding. For far too long, I remained within the “child’s” perspective.
My parents were victims of the entrapment of unforgiveness and unfortunately, they succumbed to many years of this devastating affliction. Rather than seek help for some hurtful and damaging events within their marriage, they kept the secret of their broken hearts and their broken lives. And consequently, I also became a victim to the heavy and hurtful burden and secret in our home. For years, the roller-coaster of emotions was felt in every room in our home…in every holiday…in every evening and in every morning. Each Christmas, I was told that it would be our last one together as a family…and each Christmas, I believed the words of my mother…but it never happened. The arguments continued…as did the threats of a broken family. But timed passed…and time Became My Friend.
Although, the events of those years were painful in our lives, we lived through them. In truth, my father was desperately determined and committed to the marriage. He was the only undivorced person in his extended family…And the truth was that life had been hard for him…and life had been desperately difficult for my parents. My mother’s diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, early in their marriage, was a devastating disappointment to a young couple. And, although they were people of faith in our Almighty God, they kept that a secret as they did their marriage problems. They were desperate…and I was their confidant; but their love for me was undeniable. During all of my teen years, I wished for their separation…for the sake of what I thought would be a peaceful existence. In my child’s mind, I was desperate for the arguing, and the temper outbursts, to stop, or to at least diminish…From my perspective, I wanted what I thought would make me happy…what I thought would make them happy…The truth is that broken relationships and unforgiveness carry a tremendous cost and inflict devastating pain on each member of a family. Keeping the marriage vow in itself does not bring the healing…but forgiveness and commitment together bring healing and regeneration.
But, Time Became My Friend
“Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love makes up for many of your faults.” 1 Peter 4:8
What transpired is quite amazing and miraculous. Day by day, moment by moment, they remained married. It was not pretty, or glamorous, or attractive, but they kept their vows, they wore their wedding rings…And somehow, sometime after my father was diagnosed with acute leukemia, they lived for the last ten years of their marriage and of my father’s life, in a peace-filled home. Much damage had been done during their healthy years, but time became their friend…and time erased some of the hurt-filled memories and forgiveness made its way into the hearts of my parents. My father was able to live those years in service to my mother as he helped her and cared for her in her illness, watching as her body yielded to the cruel disease. And she became a sweet companion to him as he battled his giants. Bill and our children and I had the privilege of loving them and serving them and caring for them…they were together in the same house, in the same home.
And for the hurts, and the memories of my childhood, some have diminished with time and others have healed…and the pain was replaced by the joy of a promise kept…at great cost…sacrificial in every aspect…obedience and integrity the victors…I learned to value the choice to love…I made a decision that life without forgiveness absolutely does not work…and I am so thankful to be married to the most forgiving person I know…I appreciate the act of forgiveness more than any aspect of life…Our Lord made it possible…through His redeeming and forgiving Love…
The Great Love.
Yes, time Becomes Our Friend…I have many friends who are struggling with extremely painful circumstances; questioning why other people have made hurt-filled choices…begging God to move, to work miracles…and they wait. And they wait and hurt and pray…
What I have learned is that with God, no matter what the circumstances, Time Becomes Our Friend….because God has gone before us…and He does not forsake His children, no matter what others do or say…He does not forsake. Christ came at just the right time…And it came to pass…
God’s will and purpose and His love are not thwarted because of someone else’s decision. Yes, there is pain and disappointment because at times, we hurt one another and we wound and we injure and we betray each other…but our Great God Almighty is the author of Time and He uses Time to bring His purpose and His Kingdom; He uses Time to bring His healing. He brought Christ and the Greatest Love at just the right time…and He forgave…
And Our Loving God brought a great love to my parents…through their pain…their hurt…their disappointments…their agony…He blessed the tenacity of my father to do the right thing…to honor his commitment…to serve and to care for the woman who had been the love of his life…and who once again was his love…And my mother came to appreciate and to forgive and to love once more.
And what has God done in me? Although I still regret the years my parents lost to unforgiveness, I now look at my father’s wedding band with an appreciation and respect which I never understood before, because Time had not passed. I know that at the time in my youth, I could not see…I could only feel my hurt…and empathize with my parents’ pain and I did not know about God and His Time. But, I now know that Time brings the days and moments and events and hurts and disappointments and problems and challenges and forgiveness and blessings and love…He brings it all to pass. With God, when we allow Him into our lives, Time Becomes our Friend!
And because of Grace…even if the right thing is not done, forgiveness is available…and possible…because of Grace.
But Love always costs something and Love is never wasted. His healing Hand can wipe away tears…and the hurt…and the paralyzing pain…His healing Hand brings a new Hope.
I thank the Almighty God for Love…He has given to me a husband who has the tenacious commitment to marriage; we celebrate thirty-five years of marriage this July. Bill does not keep his faith a secret; our family life has been a showcase of grace, mercy, and much-needed forgiveness; and love is the victor as the Lord has been the center of our marriage and of our home. There have been times when it has not been pretty or attractive…but the choice was made the day we married and forgiveness became a pillar of our lives.
And I thank God every day that Time passed…and that He carried me moment by moment…He did not waste my tears or the tears of my parents; and He did not waste Love…He took the blunders of our lives….our broken bests and covered them with His best. He used it all for Kingdom good…He used it all for good for my parents…He used it all in my life…Time Became My Friend…
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. “
Romans 8:28
And, I join you in the wait for the return of Christ Yeshua. But until that day of the loud command and the trumpet call…we wait for Time…knowing and believing that soon God will wipe away every tear…and there shall be no more death…no more sorrow…no more crying…no more pain. And because of His Great Love…eternity exists at this moment…and we have the blessings of this moment and His promise…We are with Him…now. With God, Time Becomes our Friend…His Word brings all to pass…He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End… And He is the Greatest Love…
I pray for my friends and my family who are hurting…I pray that they rest assured that Time is their Friend because the Loving Almighty God is at work…I pray that each one would embrace tenacity to love…to do the right thing no matter what others do…He will not forsake, or leave, or abandon His children…no matter what others do. God is making all things work for the benefit of His Kingdom good…and for the good…the best, for the person who has chosen to embrace and to love the King of Kings, the Lord of Hosts…The Prince of Life…And please, remember, that God’s Time will always be your Friend….
Abundant joy,
