Scars

Hi Beloveds...

So I was talking to a good friend last night.  He's an amazing man in Christ.

I'm blessed to have many friends in my life.  I've learned, for me personally, there are only a handful though who can handle the full weight of who I am in a moment of desperate need.  They've been tested by the fires of hell and refined.  Through the process they've been strengthened. There is nothing I can say or do that will break them or make them give up on me.  If I need to verbally vomit, I can.  If I need to cry, I can.

Though two of them are very much "men's men",  I feel safe and know they will never judge.

They've gotten to be where they are by walking some of the very same steps I walk today.  They offer no expectations,  just a love that prompts the desire to pay it forward or return the favor after I've made it through the fire myself.

So I had called this particular friend looking for some advice.  We got to talking about sin, judgment, and the scars that are left behind.  Here is a snip-it of thought that came out of that conversation...

I've had the verse about King David fasting for the life of his son on my heart.

¹⁶ David therefore inquired of God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. ¹⁸ Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to our voice. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm!” ¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.”
~2 Samuel 12:16-19

Over the past 3-4 years I've had some similar experiences.  For me it was not the life of a child but my wife and marriage.  I was grappling with how a servant of God could offer such a costly and heartfelt plea for forgiveness, I mean real blood and tears, yet in the end death still comes.  It was to the point David's servants thought he might kill himself.

Loving God?......  I say yes!

We sin.  We must ultimately face the judgment for that sin.  The Bible teaches us Christ came to forgive our sin and wash them away.  As far as the east to the west, right? (Psalm 103:12)  But I can think of no place where it says there will not be consequences for our actions.  Christ took the ultimate cost of our sin, eternal death.  Not all consequences here and in this dispensation.  Walk in life and be blessed.  Walk in death and be cursed. (Deuteronomy 30:19)  Decisions have consequences.  If there were no consequences, what would the purpose of free will be?

When you can see this operating in your life it provides comfort and stability.  Yeah, I can sin, but I know what is going to happen.  If I walk in His will for me, I know what's going to happen then too.  I will be blessed.  A bit Pavlovian?  Maybe.  But my point is this, we don't have to go through life in fear wondering what will happen next.  When we understand this, we can begin to let it shape our decision making.  We ultimately can start to let Him lead us.

Where does He lead us?......  Back to Him where we are loved, protected, and provided for. 

A relationship with Him!

What is more loving than that?!!!

Free will can leave scars, but scars are the remembrances of wounds healed.

²⁰ So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate.
²¹ Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” ²² He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ ²³ But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and he named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him ²⁵ and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.~2 Samuel 12:20-25

Love