I UNDERSTAND YOU

I understand you. I understand that all your life you have just gone through the motions. As a child, no one has told you about God. 

Alternatively, for some of you, God was shoved down your throats so you learned to hate Him, hate church, and could not wait to get out on your own so you can make your own choices. 

Once you left, you heard others say that the world was your oyster. You set out to make a name for yourself. You got a good job, made good money, maybe even met the person of your dreams. You lived the life you've always wanted to live. You got married, bought a house, had a couple of kids. Life was great. You look around you with a nod and said, "I did all this on my own. I am a strong person. I can handle anything else that comes my way and come out a victor!"

Years later, tragedy struck. The firm you worked for filed bankruptcy. You found another job, but it was not as golden as the last one. Because you are older now, competition was tight. But you take the job anyway because you needed to support the family. The children are older, they needed more. Your spouse suddenly went cold and you find out about an affair. You get divorced. The custody and support problems drag you down. Property needs to be split, which means you will soon lose your house. The kids are stressed about the situation. Money is now tight. All of a sudden, your world feels like it's crumbling around you. And it is. Because soon you need the help of family, friends, anyone who will just listen. On the surface, they did. But you only got advise. You hate to burden your family and friends with your problems knowing they got some of their own.

Suddenly, you feel alone and dejected. You think of the worst. But if you were gone, the kids would have no one. You certainly could not do that to them. They need you! Now more than ever. But who do you turn to when there is no one there?

Without warning and as if on cue, you look up to heaven. But instead of asking the God that was shoved down your throat when you were young to help you, you curse him instead. You scream at him, "If you are who you say you are, why did you let these things happen to me? How can people worship such a punisher?" 

You then realize what you just did. Just like a wayward child would lash out at their parents with blame, they still run to them when life gets tough. We always hurt the ones we love and who we are comfortable enough to know love us unconditionally.

Suddenly, a sweep of calmness envelops you. This calmness is the Holy Spirit, the protective God, the one that was given to us by God the Son. God let's you feel his love at that time. He said that He is all you need. He loves you and gives you peace. He says He will take care of you even though you have turned away from Him all these years. You surrender. You give your life to Him and ask Him to take your burdens from you because He promised it to you. You repent. You ask for His forgiveness and He you is merciful enough to give it to you wholeheartedly because He said that is why JESUS died. He died so you can be easily forgiven. He died so God the Father would not cast you to the pit of hell for any sin. JESUS is the buffer between you and God. JESUS gave His life because God sacrificed Him to us. His precious baby boy! For you, undeserving wretched sinner. But He understands because He created you in His image to love Him back. He wants you to spend eternity with Him! But He understands that you will never be perfect. And yes, even after you return to Him. However, because of His forgiveness, you try to live a life that is pleasing to Him. You will try to see others through His forgiving eyes and heart. So sin becomes less and less tempting to you. 

You start seeing things in a different light. You now want to do what he has done for you to help others like you. You take your life and place it in His hands. You let JESUS take the wheel. Now you are not responsible for anything bad happening in your life because nothing but good will transpire. Because you trusted Him. And that is all He wants.

Yes, I understand you, because I am you.