Having One of Those Days?
We all have those days, right? Those days when all the thoughts in your head are negative. Those days when you are your own worst enemy. The ones when you beat yourself up because you can't seem to do anything right and you just aren't enough no matter how hard you try. Or maybe that's just me...if so, thanks for looking, but you can stop reading this blog right now.
It was one of those days. I had tried to start the day out right. I'd read a chapter in Romans. I'd gotten my kids outside, away from the electronics. Still, I felt that negativity fogging up my brain, so I started walking around our circle drive trying to pray. But even my prayers became focused on all the ways I felt I was failing. There I was, crying out to God because - no matter how I tried or what I did - I didn't feel like I loved him well enough; I just wasn't the Christian I needed to be.
About this time, my son Hunter got off of the trampoline and started walking away. Away from the house. Away from me. I hurried to catch up with my three-year-old so I could find out what he was up to. Turns out he was walking toward the sound of a bird singing. I had heard this sound the entire time I was outside. In fact, when we first walked outside, this same sound had him worried, and I had to convince him that it was safe to play. At this moment though, when I asked what he was doing, he responded that he was "going to find that love song." Yes, you heard right. My three-year- old was going to find a "love song."
I was shocked. I asked him to repeat what he'd said and, sure enough, he told me again that the bird was singing a "love song." I just started weeping, certain God was speaking to me through my three-year-old, as though God himself was the one who'd told Hunter the bird was singing a love song. I mean, how does a child go from being frightened of a sound they've never heard before to being convinced that this sound is a love song? My son was now ready to get closer and investigate a sound that had him frightened only minutes before.
Immediately, a verse I'd read earlier in Romans 8:1 came to mind, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."
God taught me a lesson that day through my son. Reading the verse hadn't been enough to break through the lies in my brain blocking out His truth, so He came nearer. He used a bird and a boy to remind me of this timeless truth: He does not condemn those who belong to Him
The truth is, we can never in all of our lives love Him like he deserves, yet "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us...For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" (Romans 5:8,10). God knows that we are incapable of being enough on our own. He does not condemn us, but rather makes us enough "through his life" in us. If you are walking with Jesus, be assured that God does not see a failure.
God isn't frustrated with us because we don't love him well enough. He is patiently working in us and changing our hearts as we continue in our relationship with Him. He is taking time to woo us, like with the sunset that took your breath away last night, or the bird's "love song" that my three year old hears alongside the sound of God's voice in his ear.
"Jesus made the bird, Mommy," he tells me as we continue to walk.
Yes, baby. And Jesus made my heart sing today, too! Oh, how I love Him!
So next time you are having one of those days, remind yourself to stop and listen for his "love song." It's there you know, playing gently over you, around you, within you.
"The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
It was one of those days. I had tried to start the day out right. I'd read a chapter in Romans. I'd gotten my kids outside, away from the electronics. Still, I felt that negativity fogging up my brain, so I started walking around our circle drive trying to pray. But even my prayers became focused on all the ways I felt I was failing. There I was, crying out to God because - no matter how I tried or what I did - I didn't feel like I loved him well enough; I just wasn't the Christian I needed to be.
About this time, my son Hunter got off of the trampoline and started walking away. Away from the house. Away from me. I hurried to catch up with my three-year-old so I could find out what he was up to. Turns out he was walking toward the sound of a bird singing. I had heard this sound the entire time I was outside. In fact, when we first walked outside, this same sound had him worried, and I had to convince him that it was safe to play. At this moment though, when I asked what he was doing, he responded that he was "going to find that love song." Yes, you heard right. My three-year- old was going to find a "love song."
I was shocked. I asked him to repeat what he'd said and, sure enough, he told me again that the bird was singing a "love song." I just started weeping, certain God was speaking to me through my three-year-old, as though God himself was the one who'd told Hunter the bird was singing a love song. I mean, how does a child go from being frightened of a sound they've never heard before to being convinced that this sound is a love song? My son was now ready to get closer and investigate a sound that had him frightened only minutes before.
Immediately, a verse I'd read earlier in Romans 8:1 came to mind, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."
God taught me a lesson that day through my son. Reading the verse hadn't been enough to break through the lies in my brain blocking out His truth, so He came nearer. He used a bird and a boy to remind me of this timeless truth: He does not condemn those who belong to Him
The truth is, we can never in all of our lives love Him like he deserves, yet "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us...For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" (Romans 5:8,10). God knows that we are incapable of being enough on our own. He does not condemn us, but rather makes us enough "through his life" in us. If you are walking with Jesus, be assured that God does not see a failure.
God isn't frustrated with us because we don't love him well enough. He is patiently working in us and changing our hearts as we continue in our relationship with Him. He is taking time to woo us, like with the sunset that took your breath away last night, or the bird's "love song" that my three year old hears alongside the sound of God's voice in his ear.
"Jesus made the bird, Mommy," he tells me as we continue to walk.
Yes, baby. And Jesus made my heart sing today, too! Oh, how I love Him!
So next time you are having one of those days, remind yourself to stop and listen for his "love song." It's there you know, playing gently over you, around you, within you.
"The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
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