Sometimes I sit and think, “How come God just doesn’t make us follow Him?” He is so powerful, but he doesn’t do these things that rulers and kings do. For some reason… it requires my mind, my full heart that turns my hands to be working hands that glorify Him. It makes me take a look at myself as a parent sometimes… and I’m sure down the line when my kids are older, it would help me to parent them better. I think it takes a lot of mistakes and a lot of practicing for me and my family to be completely transformed. I think there’s a reason for boundaries. It definitely takes both sides to even make a boundary effective.
“God doesn’t have to abuse you to use you.”
It’s such a wonderful and a heart wrenching realization that I am His daughter, and not His slave. He loves me this much that He doesn’t expect me to do everything. He creates a boundary between Himself and us, His sons and daughters. I have read this verse many times, but never in this point of view. A view so powerful that it makes me take a step back and rethink what even more of a loving God He is.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
Revelation 3:20 NKJVGod is always there waiting for me to open the door. He is not a controlling God but a loving God who waits for me to open that door to welcome Him in. This boundary that He created, I believe, is to teach us to realize that He truly is our Father, not a master who wishes to control us. He is an almighty God, yet He is so humble and even allows us to put ourselves first instead of Him. Tough thought. This boundary that He created was to show us His love… that He will wait forever for us.
Boundaries are also created to keep us safe. We know what is right and wrong, but sometimes we still do the wrong thing. I still do the wrong thing. I have done wrong things. I have taken a bite of that apple that Adam and Eve have done long ago. Every single time, when I see the consequences in my life, or in the books of the Bible of God’s people, I see it more clearly than ever. It’s not a good consequence, but God did not create us to control us. He just wants to love us, and I know that He wants us to learn how to love like Him, too.
In turn, it is very similar to victories and downfalls of being a parent. You know what’s best for your own kids and what dangers lie in wrong choices that they will ultimately make down the line… but we simply cannot make them do the right thing. Just as God creates a set of “rules”, all we can do as a parent is to advise and show our kids. It requires a willing heart and a wise mind in all of us. Wisdom does come from experiences that we go through in life. It reminds me of the sermon this past Sunday. “We can get a win in life because God always wins, but even if we lose… we still win because we learn and repent, therefore we understand what it takes now to win.”
When Pastor Gordon from Overcomer CC say “Win”, it can be anything. A win in ourselves for yet again another day following in Christ’s footsteps. A win in rebuking the devil towards our own temptations. A win in not screaming at our own kids, but rather responding with patience and love. It can even be a win in sharing the Gospel without the recipient thinking you are out of your mind. Best believe me, most of the time I praise God in my conversations, they do think I am out of my mind. It is truth that even if we lose, that when we repent and learn… we still WIN. God doesn’t ultimately banish you from His love when we don’t open the door for Him because of our own losses. The enemy wants us to feel we are defeated by our own sins. God is so loving that even when you lose, He turns those losses to wins because He will always forgive us.
A truly repented heart will always turn losses to wins because we have seen first hand just how loving our Father is. He will always knock for us until we open the door. Sometimes I just sit here and think, He still loves me after all this? And He is still there behind that door that I closed years ago? Just like I would be with my own kids if they ever decide to close the door on me. This boundary may seem like God has closed the door on us, but I truly believe that God gave us free will to understand how to truly love Him, ourselves, and others around us. Therefore when we open that door for Him, it was because of the astounding love that Jesus Christ have for us and not because of an order to control us to do what He wants.
With all of my heart, soul and mind, I seek You, the Lord our God. I am willing to follow You because You have waited for me.
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*My reflections on Day 11 of I Do Hard Things by Havilah Cunnington.
