CONTROLLING LOVE
But Lord, I trust in your faithful love, so let me rejoice because you saved me. (Ps. 13:5 ERV)
It is good to be saved! There is only one name by which we can be saved. However, if we never know the greatness of God’s love we will never really experience the fullness of that salvation. It seems that more and more I am coming to the place of enjoying His love and it is a nice spot.
You see, His love can and will control the direction of our life if we will let it. Paul wrote to the Ephesians expressing his desire that they would know the greatness of God’s love for all who will believe it. It is great for everyone, but it cannot accomplish the will of God for our lives unless we believe it.
You see, the love of God compels us to yield to His promises. How can we be in fear when the love that God has for us is given place in our lives?
I believe it was awareness of His great love that carried Stephen through being stoned. He saw Jesus standing by the Father loving him. We could ask, “Why didn’t Jesus just rescue him?” I do not know the answer to that, but I do believe that it did not bother Stephen a bit.
When you want to be angry, think about how much God loves you. Imagine Him saying, “What do I gotta do to make you love me?” Remember that song. No matter what circumstance we may face, if we will allow the love that God has for us control our thinking, we will find peace.
Jesus told us that in the world there would be trouble, but that He had overcome it all. So we have the promise in life of trouble and rescue. If we refuse the rescuer, then we can look forward to using our energy against the trouble. If we think that some seem to have no trouble, we are wrong.
God’s love is higher, wider, broader, and deeper than we can ever imagine. It is also simpler than we can understand, and He offers it with no reservation what so ever.
“God loves me,” seems to be such a simple statement with very little power, but it is like the mustard seed. Plant it in the middle of a battle field in your mind and see what it does. My grandson plays a computer game that started out looking like digging with a big machine me. It made me dizzy to watch and I could see nothing really happening. Recently, a few years later, he had constructed things that made sense. It was amazing!
I say this not because the love of God in our life takes years to accomplish anything, but because it continues to do things when we do not see anything happening. The more we allow His love to control our thinking and actions the more amazing results we will see. If we are going to be controlled by something, why not let it be the love of God?