A beautiful, wonderful friend recently told me about this image and I've been thinking about it a lot lately. It's thought-provoking, to say the least.
You and God are in a boat in the middle of the ocean. Literally, the middle of the ocean... there is nothing around you but the boat, the Lord, and the sea. In your hands, you clutch a jar filled with dirt, muck and grime- it is everything you harbor in your heart that is not of the Lord, that does not glorify Him. It is made up of grudges, tears, heart aches, curse words, the deeds you've done before you were wed, and the guilt associated with it all... everything in your life that does not glorify Him. Further, it is your pain that people of the world have given to you, for whatever reason, whatever the story. The Lord takes this jar from you and empties it into the water. You struggle to grab it back, leaning over the side of the boat and splashing the dirty water into your jar, but it was mostly dirt; it has dissipated and it is gone. The Lord reminds us of this gently, and is there for us (literally present at this moment) when He takes it.
The things I am learning from this story, if it is as true as it seems to be:
1. When we ask God to take away our hurts, and forgive us of them, He does it.
2. When He takes these things away, we always want them back because they are familiar and comfortable. But the Lord didn't create us to be comfortable, and the pain we feel here really is from Him, but it is being replaced by His peace, hope and joy.
3. The things of this world are dirty and gross.
4. The Lord is present when our hurt is real. He does not leave our sides when our hearts ache, whether it is because of real hurt or the pain of being uncomfortable.
5. Our sin is small compared to the ocean of God's grace (referring to the beautiful lyric, "If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking..."), but it was not a small feat for God to overcome it, for Jesus to.
6. Everything the Lord wants of us is for our greater good. E.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.
7. Giving things up is good for you.
8. Water cleanses and is the wingman to many of Jesus' miracles.
I'm preaching to the choir here, just fyi... I'm desperately trying to learn how to forgive, and it's really, really hard. This lack of forgiveness is a bucket of muck in and of itself, and just coming close to letting God dump it out is terrifying. #truth :)
A quote that I love and find to be quite true.
"The cure for anything is salt water- sweat, tears or the sea." (Jack Dinesen)
And the most beautiful truth of all.
This is the one that came by water and blood - Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
1 John 5:6
Water is beautiful and cleansing. Let it wash you and bring you peace...
I'll be in prayer for you.
xoxo
People get all caught up in "Why did God let this happen..." instead of realizing that we, like little children, are allowed to make our own mistakes. We all are. We live the consequences of our decisions and the decisions of others and those who have lived before us. Instead of wondering how God could let something happen, we should be focused on the fact that because someone made a bad decision, and it affected me, and my heart is broken, and I can't stop crying and it hurts so bad...instead of thinking God is just looking down unaffected, watching our pain...He is the invisible hand on our shoulder, He is the invisible hug, He cries the tears we cannot see. For when our heart is broken, His heart is broken. He counts every tear that falls from our eyes and each and every one of them affect Him. That's the God we have.
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