Receiving the Power to Be
No Longer Defective and Powerless
No Longer Defective and Powerless
Shame was the first fallen human emotion in the Garden.
We have all been there. We were rejected by man, but we are also accepted by God.
June sat in music class crying from rejection. Earlier, in math class, her friends made it clear they wanted nothing to do with her. She was “yucky, disgusting”. June could not stop crying. As she used tissue after tissue to blow her nose, the friends that used to sit with her were across the room laughing at her pain. Others noticed. The shame was immense.
Eleven years old is a confusing time. Belonging to a group is of utmost importance. June no longer belonged. Gone was a large piece of her identity. Different friends in time filled her life, but the repeat of rejection over the years taught lessons that branded June’s heart with the words unacceptable, not enough, defective, outcast.
June came to love Christ and married. But rejection interfered with the ability to sense the Lord’s love. Many years passed as June found it hard to receive God’s comfort when rejected.
She realized one problem was her view of the God she worshiped. June’s belief was that he had a baseball bat inscribed with her name. If she stepped out of line, God hit her over the head. She had to perform to be loved. Instead of running into God’s comfort, she ran away from him. When the Lord spoke consolation June did not believe what he said. June’s circumstances convinced her the voices of those who rejected her were correct in their assessment. They shouted louder than the Lord’s voice.
After many years God told her, “I am with you” Sometimes He said this daily. The first time God mentioned this truth June realized she did not understand this well. With these words June entered a new journey of discovery. As a result, she learned to run to God not from Him. What does it mean for God to be with her, with you?
God is “Totally Other” yet takes up residence in man. As his beloved we experience God’s sufficiency for our humanity, his power for our weakness, and God’s love for our lack. The Lord is closer than our own breath. If we allow it we can commune moment by moment with the Ever-Present One. God’s voice brings clarity or denial to other voices. We must receive these truths and the knowledge God is with us before discerning the nuances of his affections. God wants us to experience his heart, to know him. The Lord invites us to him:
Song 2:14 My dove in the clefts of the rock,
in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
We are his, but we must move toward that truth, toward him. He is with us.
