What Is Love? Jesus Won’t Hurt You

New Beginnings

Growth is good. Growth can be hard. I am learning both of these things simultaneously here in Romania. The first couple weeks here have been difficult. I felt constantly uncomfortable and challenged. So I decided to ask God why I was struggling so much. I felt Him say “You’re trying to get water out of a dry well.” Ouch, I was the well in this case, trying to bring life out of an area of myself that was currently lacking. I was not functioning in a place of overflow and love, but of drought and unrest. I needed to spend time with Jesus. To rest in His presence, to allow myself to slow down and simply listen to His heart beat my name. In the chaos of leaving Guatemala and arriving here in Romania I hadn’t spent much time with God or reading my Bible.

Rest in My Arms

Spending time with Jesus looks different for each person. For me it currently looks like turning on worship music, reading books about God, or reading the Bible. Some music I’ve been loving recently are: The Fathers Song by UPPERROOM and Elyssa Smith, You Saved Me by UPPERROOM and Abbie Gamboa, Give Me Jesus by UPPERROOM and Abbie Gamboa. The books that I have been reading that I strongly suggest are Holier Than Thou by Jackie Hill Perry and The Secret Of Loving by Josh McDowell. And the Bible of course 🙂

My Daughter

After realizing what I was in was a drought, I was ready to submerge. I started reading all of the books I mentioned above and started asking God questions.  I began facing fears and locating lies. A fear I thought I got rid of, the fear of being alone. I brought this up to God while walking during ministry one day. I felt Him put His hand on my cheek and tell me, “I will always be with you, I will never leave you.” This was so personal. Sure, I’ve read that many times in the Bible, for example:

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭31‬:‭8‬ ‭

But in this moment it was like I was hearing it for the first time. I felt so loved and seen. He met me right where I was in that moment. While reading The Secret of Loving the author asks the reader what they think their worth is. And then he gently reminds the reader their worth, and that is the price that God paid for us which was Jesus on the cross.

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ ‭

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭

Wow, after reading this I craved to know even more about His love. If God sent Jesus to die on the cross for me, and still would have done so even if I was the only person on earth, then God must REALLY love me.

What is Love?

Let’s talk about love. I was brought back to 1 Corinthians 13 and read it with new eyes. I was beginning to understand it in a way I thought I had, but truly hadn’t. Here we go:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭4‬-‭8‬ ‭

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬

Did we just read the same thing?! God is love. And if God is love that means they share the same characteristics. WHAT?! So if God is love, that means: God is patient, God is kind. It means that He does not envy, boast, and He is not proud. God does not dishonor others, He is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails.

And maybe all this is old news for you, I’m happy if it is!! I thought it was for me,  but it just hit me DIFFERENTLY. I like the way Jackie Hill Perry says it in her book Holier Than Thou:

“If God is holy, then He can’t sin. If God can’t sin, then He can’t sin against me. If He can’t sin against me, shouldn’t that make Him the most trustworthy being there is?”

Ouch again, now I had to confront lies I was believing about God. I didn’t believe that God would always protect me. More importantly, I didn’t believe God would always protect my family. My whole life I felt like it was my duty to protect my family. God never asked me to do this, it was something I picked up on my own. They are not mine to protect, instead they are God’s. I hadn’t fully surrendered them to God. So I decided to lay my family at the feet of Jesus, it was hard. But in that moment I knew that He loved them more than I was capable of. His thoughts of them outnumbered the grains of sand on earth like it says in Psalms 139:17-18. So with that, I continue to believe that God always protects.

Here we go again. Another lie that had crept in was that God didn’t have time to spend with me and that I had to beg for blessings. God is patient. He is not in a hurry, He wants to spend time with us. And He is not selfish with His time. Ephesians 3:20 says that God is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine. We are His children, and He wants truly what is best for us whether is see it as that or not. Our heart posture does not change His truth.

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭31‬:‭3‬ ‭

“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬ ‭

My Truest Love

We are so sweetly loved. Jesus welcomes us when we are weary and burdened, He gives us rest. He is gentle and humble. He provides rest for our souls. Jesus tells us His yoke is easy and His burden is light. God tells us His command, and that is to believe in the life of His son Jesus, and to love each other as He has told us. I serve a God of love. God is love. He readily grabs our hand, He is within our reach. We are able to love because He first loved us. Don’t forget, God said ‘I love you’ first. It’s up to us to say ‘I love you too.’

“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬ ‭

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬-‭30‬

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬ ‭

God’s love is wide enough to cover anything I could ever see with my eyes opened or closed.

God’s love is longer than if all the hearts that ever lived were strung together in a beautiful song and took turns beating.

God’s love is deeper than the aching pit of all human sorrow.

God’s love is high enough to pull us out and wash us clean from any circumstance we could ever walk into.

Jesus won’t hurt you, He wants to love you.