Struggle

So I've been reading "Bold Love" by Allender and Longman. The last several days, the reading has focused on sin and overcoming sin in our own lives in order to love more fully. If we can see what an incredible gift God has given us in his Son, then our world changes. When I think about the sin in my life and how Jesus gave His life so that I wouldn't be punished, it puts things in perspective. Could I ever love someone that much? My immediate answer is yes, but then I think of how slow I am to forgive very small things sometimes. I don't know. I don't fully understand the role of sin and love, but I'll get there.

I've also been reading about the struggles of Job and Jacob in the Bible. These very different men were both wrestling with God. They were struggling with Him, and God welcomed that. He didn't chastise them for asking questions or battling with Him (Jacob "wrestled" more with God than Job did) because He knew that this struggle was making them stronger, better, more refined, more like Him. The authors of "Bold Love" put it this way, "Job, Jacob, and I have the same privilege - as arrogant and deceitful people, we can wrestle with God, knowing that we will not be destroyed.....I will not be punished - disciplined perhaps, but never condemned." Thank You God that you let me question and get angry and be human and You still love me and forgive me. God honors our struggle with Him.

This is my prayer for me and everyone I know, "I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19.