Inspiration Just When You Need It

Did you ever notice how God uses really unlikely ways to encourage or inspire you just when you need it the most?

I've had a few rough days lately. Well. About thirty of them, if you want to know the truth. And I've been fighting...hard!...to get my mojo back. So I asked God last night as my head hit the pillow, "I don't know what's going on in my life, but I just don't feel sure of anything any more. If You could manage a little inspiration, maybe some encouragement, I don't think it would be lost on me."

I slept pretty well actually. Kind of unusual these days. I got up early and checked my email before work and, amidst loop mail and advertisements for whiter teeth and a bigger penis, I found an e-newsletter from one of my favorite authors, Susan May Warren. Her greeting really spoke to me, and I asked her if I could re-publish it here because, if you've been feeling out of sorts lately ... a little off kilter ... my hope is that this will encourage you, too.


Yesterday, the dog walked by my kitchen window.

Not under the window, but by it, because the ground was just below the windowsill. I thought it was a moose. Seriously. I called my son in from the next room with the words, "I just saw a moose!" (I'm still paying for that as the current laughingstock of the family.)

We are buried here in Northern MN, as is the rest of the country. And, while last year at this time I was road-tripping around Minnesota and South Dakota, wearing my spring clothes, this year I'm still clunking around in my Uggs and parka. Is there any hope of summer?

Yes. Absolutely. Even if it is for only a month, I know summer will arrive. I don't have to panic. In fact, with that knowledge, I am free to enjoy winter, with its challenges and delights.

My friend Tiff Colter wrote an intriguing blog over at www.mybooktherapy.com last week about the power of knowing. If you knew something would happen, what would you do to accomplish it? I've been pondering this all week - how does knowledge - or rather, assurance - change us? I understand the flip side - doubt causes all manner of destruction. Unfinished projects, worry, fear, anger, even desperation. I can walk into my office, stare at my messy credenza and prove that. (if I clean it, will it stay clean? Nyet). Or step on the scale. (Maybe we shouldn't go there!) But the truth is, I'm more familiar with doubt than assurance.

But I shouldn't be. The hallmark of the Christian life is about assurance. Assurance of forgiveness. Assurance of sufficient grace. Assurance of mercy.

Assurance of eternity.

I know I am redeemed. I know God is on my side.

At least I should know this. But sometimes, I operate as if I don't. I treat faith like an equation: Obedience + Sacrifice + A Grateful Heart = Blessings (often how we measure God's Love, which is fundamentally incorrect anyway. I know, it's hard to separate, because it feels that way. But God's love really is separate from the blessings of God. But that's another topic). But see, the equation doesn't work because God's Love is not equal with anything we do.

God's love is simply a fact. And we can't reconcile it, or make the equation balance. I mean, really, what can do we do with Romans 5:8, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us?" Or the beautiful statement in Song of Songs 1:5, "Dark I am (a sinner I am), but lovely, (beloved of God)." We just can't reconcile the fact that we are both sinner and beloved.

But God has. See, God's love is not dependent on our worth, but on His desire to give it. And he has. It's not in question.

It's assured.

John 15: 9 "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now, remain in my love." Believe in it. Be assured of it. Let it seep into you, change you, call you lovely, despite your darkness.

I love this old hymn:

But I know Whom I have believèd,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I've committed
Unto Him against that day.

How would your life change if you knew God loved you?

Because, friend, He does.

Note: It's true. He really does. --Sandie