Through the Gospel, “we have come to know, rest in, and rely upon the love God has for us. Whoever lives in his love lives in God, and God in them… There is no fear in love. In fact, God’s perfect love for us drives out our very imperfect, stubborn, and varied fears.” (pp 1Jn.4:16-18)
Heavenly Father, it’s all here in this one passage—the wonders of your love, the essence of your being, and the heartbeat of our calling. We are to rest in and rely on your incomparable love for us in Jesus.
The first is easier than the second, but both require the greatness of your grace and the power of your Spirit. Grant us both as we name the restlessness, weaknesses, and fears we carry .
About what are we restless? How much time do you have Abba on this day after Thanksgiving? How about global instability and national craziness for starters? But on a way-more personal level, we are restless about people we love, relationships we can’t make great, and outcomes we can’t control. Free us to rely on your love more fully in each of our relationships.
What weaknesses are we currently experiencing? As for me, being 75 has its own predictable, inconvenient, and humbling weaknesses. But temptation to sin is a weakness the youngest and most mature believer will experience till heaven. There’s no sin in being tempted, but there’s temptation in every single day. Abba, you know our current vulnerabilities. Free us to rely on your love more fully when we’re tempted to medicate our pain foolishly, satisfy good longings in very bad ways, and/or take things into our own hands that only you can handle.
What do we fear? Each of us, if we’re in doubt, needs to ask you to make our fears clear to us, Abba. Is it fear of people-pleasing, fear of aging and death, fear of not having or being enough, fear of becoming irrelevant and forgotten? Free us to rely on your love more fully when we face our fears. And Abba, with or without our permission, please expel, evict, exorcise our very unwelcome, vexatious, peace and joy robbing fears. So Very Amen.