Love and Fear part 4
They say more is lost by indecision than wrong decision. And that's the torment of fear. Fear keeps us paralyzed. It keeps us from doing anything. It keeps us locked up in our heads, unable to move. Unable to walk in faith. It keeps us stuck in a rut. And my pastor taught me a rut is nothing more than a grave with the ends kicked out. Fear is the opposite of love. And since life IS love--to live is to love and to love is to live--then fear is death. Life is living, and moving. Learning and growing. Making mistakes, sure, but learning from those mistakes. The only true failure is failing to try. And that, unfortunately, is where a lot of us are. We're afraid to even try. We think of everything that could go wrong, and we don't even image that anything could go right. We know that there is abundace available to us--handed down from a loving Father to His beloved Son--but we're afraid to lose what we've got. Even while we lament that fact that we don't seem to have anything. I'm telling you right now: Love is not lost when it's given away. It feeds on itself and it grows and grows like a Holy Ghost wildfire. When Jesus was hungry and sent His disciples to go get food, then had an encounter with a woman at the well, His disciples came back to find that He was no longer hungry. When they questioned Him He had this to say, "...I have a kind of food that you know nothing about" (John 4:32 NLT). And when they questioned that, "...Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work" (John 4:34 NLT). He gave what He had and it nourished both the woman AND Himself. Because when you love someone you're not really giving anything AWAY. You're simply SHARING what you have. You know the old phrase, "If you don't use it, you lose it"? Well in the Kingdom you "gain" it BY using it! You find your life by laying it down for your friends. You experience love by loving others. You don't have to be afraid of losing what you've got because you're connected to the source. The unlimited supply. I started this Rant series by saying there were, in a sense, two forces, or powers, in the world. And while I don't want to get ahead of myself because this is where I want to end tomorrow, I want to say that REALLY there is only ONE power. Love. God is ALL POWERFUL. Which doesn't mean He has most of the power and someone (or something) has less power. It means there is NO OTHER POWER. That's why perfect love CASTS out fear. That's why when the light shines the darkness has no choice but to flee. But, again, that's tomorrow's Rant. For today, what I'm trying to say is, love is fearless. Love doesn't sit idly by. Rest is not inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. And what else would the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of love--ever direct us to do other than love one another? What's the New Commandment? Love one another as Jesus loves us. What's it all about? It's all about love. So don't be afraid. Because you ARE loved. And because you ARE loved you CAN love. Because you ARE loved... you are LOVE!