What is your relationship with God like? Several weeks ago the Spirit confronted me with that question when I read these words in a prayer, “We’re too busy trying…God show us when we try too hard. Teach us not to be afraid to let go.” Sometimes I think I try too hard to make God love me. I know better, but that seems to be my default mode.
Since that day, I have been reminded of this several times. Sometimes in humorous ways, like a refrigerator magnet I saw that said, “Let go or be dragged. American Proverb” I should have bought it. Other times in serious ways, like Brennan Manning’s reporting on his 30-day prayer of Song of Solomon 7:10 (NRSV), “I am my beloved’s / and his desire is for me” (The Furious Longing of God 21). Notice it is not for what I do, but for me.
You may feel that I write about this too much, but I need to hear it again and again. I also think it is a message that needs to be shouted over other voices that purport to represent the Church. God loves us – each of us individually. He is not waiting for us to hit some mark before he loves us, or to do some incredible thing, or to fix some habit, or any other barrier you might have construed in your thinking. He loves you. Right here, right now.
One of the most amazing verses in all of the Bible to me is this: “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, NRSV). We need to remember this, let go, and accept that “I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me.”