Crushed by Gentleness?
Little did I know the shattering that would follow. I watched in awe as walls that had been built on decades of harshness melted like wax at a whisper of Your mercy.
And, as always, the relentless love You used to capture me was meant for so much more. As I learned what it meant to be seized by love, I became able to take hold of others.
As I experienced the softening that comes from a gentle answer, a soft touch, mercy instead of wrath, I began to extend it to those in front of me. I watched as those hardened by abuse or abandonment began to melt under the steady stream of Your love.
Joy replaced fear, confidence replaced cowering, friendliness replaced resentment. That which I had feared was weak proved instead to be a more powerful instrument of change than any religious formula I could have created.
And when life gets painful, You remind me of how it feels to be held by You all over again. How I value the innocence You continually restore in me – the simple, intense joy of loving and being loved by You.
I don't have to be complicated. I don't have to have all the answers. I simply have to allow myself to crumple under the weight of the love of God. When the distractions have disappeared, He can speak the words that answer my questions and heal my soul, that give me direction and point out the next step.
No one expects me to save the world. That's not my job. But if I claim to know Jesus, I must have hope to offer.
But that hope can't come if I am crushed by the things that are crushing everyone else. Whether they are circumstances in my own life or those in the world, I must not allow them to stand tall against my intimate knowledge of the love and goodness of God.
If I must run to Him hourly in remembrance, so be it. I refuse to let evil override my experience of the Truth. And when I rise from His feet, it will be with the tangible Love of God in hand, ready in turn to crush every lie that is taunting those He puts in front of me.
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