The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. [Psalm 103:8 (NLT)]
Like most parents, there were times my husband and I were exasperated by, disappointed in, displeased with, and ticked off at our children. While we tried to be compassionate and merciful, we weren’t necessarily slow to get angry. In spite of our anger, however, like God, we were always filled with unfailing love. We could be disappointed, distressed, and even hurt by our children yet we persisted in our love for them. Even though they weren’t always loveable—in fact, there were times they were barely likeable—we loved them unconditionally. After all, they were our children—a part of us. Fortunately, they all survived our less than perfect parenting and have grown into wonderful adults and loving parents with children of their own. While we settle into enjoying grandparenthood, they are now experiencing for themselves the challenges of parenting and the tremendous power of parental love.
If mothers and fathers, mere flawed humans, can continue to love their children in spite of wrecked cars, skipped school or broken laws, our perfect God can easily persist in loving His children in spite of their myriad offenses. If mortal parents can still love children that deceive them, treat them with contempt, or disappoint them, think about how much our divine God can continue to love His children regardless of their transgressions. Consider how much more able He is to have unfailing love for His offspring than an ordinary man or woman. I don’t know how He manages it, but He does. He may be angry and disappointed with us, but He continues to love us.
Thank you, Father God, for not losing faith in your children; thank you for your unfailing love and forgiveness.
While writing yesterday’s meditation, I remembered back to my high school days when I studied theater at an arts academy in northern Michigan. I should have been happy for my friend when she got the lead in a play, but I wasn’t. Instead, I was annoyed because I thought that role should have been mine. While the play was still being rehearsed, my friend returned to Ohio with a medical emergency. Did I pray for her? Of course not; I was a self-involved teenager and my only prayer was one of thanks because the lead role became mine. The emergency, however, wasn’t that serious and she returned to school (and her part in the play) several days later. Did I say a prayer of thanksgiving for her? Of course not; being a self-involved teenager, I pouted and gave her the cold shoulder.
around me, myself and I: my toys, my games, my friends, my wants, my school, my plans. As I matured, I became a little less self-involved but I have to admit that my priorities still revolved around me: my education, my husband, my children, my family, my projects, my future! All of these are important, but no matter how much I love my husband, children and grandchildren, and no matter how worthwhile my projects or causes, none of these should be my first priority. That should always be God.
In Hebrew, mitzvah means command and the mitzvoth are the 613 commandments that came from God in the Old Testament. In Reformed Judaism (and Yiddish), mitzvah has come to mean “good deed.” In actuality, I’m sure any good deed falls somewhere within one of those 613 original commands! Moreover, isn’t every good deed a way to connect with God and express both our love for Him and for our neighbor?
It was such a wonderful and joy-filled day that I can’t believe we almost didn’t attend. We’d been invited to a 60th anniversary celebration and 60th anniversaries don’t happen that often. Nevertheless, we’d planned on declining because the date and place were inconvenient, getting there was expensive, and working out the logistics was problematic. A little thought and prayer, however, helped us realize that while inconvenient, it was not impossible; while expensive, it was not prohibitive; while difficult, with some adjustment on our part, it was doable. Moreover, our absence would disappoint people we love. One final thing was holding us back—we had nothing to wear! OK, you men have heard that one before but, in this case, it was true. We were in our Colorado mountain town where jeans and boots are the all-purpose outfit. Dressing up simply means clean jeans and boots and, no matter how clean the jeans or boots, that didn’t seem appropriate. We had plenty of clothes in other closets that would have been perfect for the event but they were more than a thousand miles away. The Holy Spirit, however, did His job and reminded me: “It’s not about you!” What we wore was of no importance to this milestone event. Few would even notice and no one would remember; it was our presence, not our appearance, that mattered. Another look into the closet found attire that, while not fashionable, was acceptable.
Devotions of the Heart 