To Do Small things with Great Love

Each day as one grows in their faith, there is an assurance that one belongs to the most gracious and loving Father. He is the alchemist of our dreams. He is the builder of faithful and loyal servants. He takes the most meek and mild of us and turns us into champions. He takes the abused and the downtrodden and turns us into world changers. He takes the insecurities and the loneliness we all feel and face in our lives and builds a tapestry of loving people to bear our burdens with us and remind us who we really are on the inside. We learn what the will of the Father is through the love and kindness of the people we meet along the way, even if it is for a moment’s time. We learn what the will of the Father is through his love and his kindness. Sometimes, his love and kindness is best seen in our most vulnerable and painful seasons. He knows how to take us through the deepest and darkest valleys as if they were a walk in the park. It is in our tragedies God restructures the way we view the world. If we our brave enough, in these season's he softens our hearts and opens our eyes. When I imagine what the Lord has in store for us, I see the will of the Father for our lives in the reflection of the most lovely, noble, and beautiful things in the world. In clear sight, the simple look into the eyes of an awestruck child reflects back the hope we need to get through another day. I see the will of the Father in the love and admiration the young falling in love. I see the will of the Father shine brightly on a house on a hill overlooking the land and sea.

The closer we draw near to the Father, the closer we come to understand who we are in Him. Fame and fortune are desires of the world, but to be famous and fortunate in the eyes of Father is to carry His love in our hearts and share in this love with others, even those who gravely hurt us. The will of the Father does not always make sense to us. It is hard enough as a Christian to wrap our minds around the will of the Father to sacrifice Jesus on our behalf or to allow suffering in our world. The will of the Father was not to stop suffering but to teach us through suffering the glorious nature of God to give us beauty for ashes and to teach us through Jesus and the disciples that his will for us is to truly learn how to love with a reckless abandonment. To let go of thinking we have it all figured out, and letting him show us what really counts in life. He teaches us what it means to truly pick up our cross daily in the menial tasks of our everyday lives, and walk with him. The true will of the Father is too gives us this time on earth to learn who we are in Him and learn how to truly love like Christ. It is the will of the Father to teach us how to be physical humans with spiritual bodies; which is no easy thing to learn. To pour the gifts of the Holy Spirit onto everyone we meet is our right and our duty as His children. To sew seeds into someones life is to do the good works of the Father. To love without fear is a courageous and bold gift that only man can do with the help of Christ. To be at peace and to share the indescribable peace of the Father is His will. His will is not to see us suffer, but to see us take our suffering as a building block to arise out the grave and into the horizons of possibilities for our lives with a greater capacity to love than we could ever fathom.

It is Mark 3 that we learn so much about Jesus and God’s will for our lives. He teaches us that if we are looking to identify our family, we must first look to him to understand His will. It is not by birth or by coincidence that we find our true spiritual family. When we understand His will then we can best identify who our true brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers are in Christ. In Mark 3:12 we learn that even the demons knew who Christ is and Jesus silenced them as to not reveal his identity. It is also in this same chapter that Jesus is called insane by the religious leaders. Yet, he has to get on a boat as to not get crushed by crowds of people traveling far and wide to receive his healing touch. We see that Christ is not bothered to be identified as the true Son of God. He is not bothered with the desire to publicize himself and put himself above others. Instead, he lets the power and love of His dad flow through him willingly to draw the people far and wide. That is the will of the Father. To be known through his glorious power and love, more so then through the works of man. So as we walk through life, do not worry about the things of the world. Do not worry about who loves you well or who does not. Do you worry about who knows your true intent and heart or who understands you. Instead, love with reckless abandonment, care for others even when they care not for you, and edify and build up the bride of Christ in the little daily tasks you are asked to complete. The potency of His glorious fragrance and the unshakeable indescribable flow of Christ’s powerful presence will draw to you the very people that need a touch from heaven, and the will of the Father will continue to be made known to you in your obedience.