Finding freedom in vulnerability
Dictionary.com defines being vulnerable as "capable of or susceptible to being wounded or hurt" and "open to moral attack, criticism, temptation."
Doesn't sound very appealing, does it? Most of us spend a lot of time remembering times we got wounded or hurt, and figuring out ways to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Yet Jesus commands "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (John 13:34). In fact, He spends a lot of time talking about love.
And the truth is, you can't really love someone without being open to them.
We grow up thinking love is a feeling. But the Bible makes it clear that the love God requires is a lot more. We are expected to truly connect with Him and with people.
Love is an experience. The love God has for us, the love we have for Him, the love we have for others - it's not meant to be something we safely feel inside of our locked box of self-protection.
Love is being wide open with our lives. We are to give freely, receive freely, love freely, feel freely. We don't concern ourselves with getting hurt because God holds our heart and is able warn us beforehand of danger and heal us afterward if necessary.
Which sounds great, but sometimes life gets a little more messy than we expect. I'm personally coming out of a season of self-protection. It snuck up on me as I tried in vain to shield myself from the bullets of pain ripping through the lives of the children I work with and, yes, love.
The hurt in their eyes, lives, and bodies became too much for me to handle. Instead of taking the opportunity to run to Papa God, lifting our shredded hearts up to Him for healing, I did something else.
I began building walls around my own heart to prevent further damage. But what I thought would be my protection ended up being a heart hardened to God. I found I couldn't open up to let Him in and keep pain out at the same time.
Unwilling to open myself to what I saw as unbearable pain, I found myself standing frozen outside the protection of His love. Not only was I losing my personal connection to God, it was getting harder and harder to pray effectively for others. How could I draw others into the healing presence of God when I was keeping myself "safely" invulnerable?
I had forgotten how calling down the power of God while standing alongside someone brings healing to us both. I'd forgotten that allowing myself to be vulnerable to pain also makes me vulnerable to God's peace, joy, and love.
I'd forgotten being fully open to Him the only way He can truly work through me to bring healing to the ones whose pain drove me into hiding in the first place.
So now I'm taking those walls down. And instead of being independent - invulnerable - about it, I'm learning to reach out to God and to others. As I learn again to lean heavily on my Papa, I stop needing to feel so strong and protected on my own.
My courage is returning as I gaze on His strength instead of the hurt of those around me. With the courage comes everything I need to march back out into battle for those I love.
Jesus daily stared hatred, despair, and torment in the face without backing down. For us to do the same, we have to position ourselves as He did - unafraid to be vulnerable, both to our Father and to people. When we learn to become completely dependent on and vulnerable to our Father, we will receive all the strength, peace, and healing we need, as often as necessary.
Doesn't sound very appealing, does it? Most of us spend a lot of time remembering times we got wounded or hurt, and figuring out ways to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Yet Jesus commands "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (John 13:34). In fact, He spends a lot of time talking about love.
And the truth is, you can't really love someone without being open to them.
We grow up thinking love is a feeling. But the Bible makes it clear that the love God requires is a lot more. We are expected to truly connect with Him and with people.
Love is an experience. The love God has for us, the love we have for Him, the love we have for others - it's not meant to be something we safely feel inside of our locked box of self-protection.
Love is being wide open with our lives. We are to give freely, receive freely, love freely, feel freely. We don't concern ourselves with getting hurt because God holds our heart and is able warn us beforehand of danger and heal us afterward if necessary.
Which sounds great, but sometimes life gets a little more messy than we expect. I'm personally coming out of a season of self-protection. It snuck up on me as I tried in vain to shield myself from the bullets of pain ripping through the lives of the children I work with and, yes, love.
The hurt in their eyes, lives, and bodies became too much for me to handle. Instead of taking the opportunity to run to Papa God, lifting our shredded hearts up to Him for healing, I did something else.
I began building walls around my own heart to prevent further damage. But what I thought would be my protection ended up being a heart hardened to God. I found I couldn't open up to let Him in and keep pain out at the same time.
Unwilling to open myself to what I saw as unbearable pain, I found myself standing frozen outside the protection of His love. Not only was I losing my personal connection to God, it was getting harder and harder to pray effectively for others. How could I draw others into the healing presence of God when I was keeping myself "safely" invulnerable?
I had forgotten how calling down the power of God while standing alongside someone brings healing to us both. I'd forgotten that allowing myself to be vulnerable to pain also makes me vulnerable to God's peace, joy, and love.
I'd forgotten being fully open to Him the only way He can truly work through me to bring healing to the ones whose pain drove me into hiding in the first place.
So now I'm taking those walls down. And instead of being independent - invulnerable - about it, I'm learning to reach out to God and to others. As I learn again to lean heavily on my Papa, I stop needing to feel so strong and protected on my own.
My courage is returning as I gaze on His strength instead of the hurt of those around me. With the courage comes everything I need to march back out into battle for those I love.
Jesus daily stared hatred, despair, and torment in the face without backing down. For us to do the same, we have to position ourselves as He did - unafraid to be vulnerable, both to our Father and to people. When we learn to become completely dependent on and vulnerable to our Father, we will receive all the strength, peace, and healing we need, as often as necessary.
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