08/11/2019
Do you love God with no less intensity, or walk with Jesus with the same vigor as in days gone by, and yet the sense of joy, and satisfaction seems to have waned from your relationship? Do you feel like you are losing the intimacy you once experienced in your faith? Well, do not lose heart because you are no further away from God than you we’re at the height of your zeal... in the days when you first believed.
“"Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent, when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me, when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!”
Job 29:2-6 ESV
What we feel to be a fading, or waning in our walk of faith is something that occurs quite naturally in many areas of our lives, and is not a distancing from God, nor a loss of desire, but rather.... it is the setting in of familiarity, and a growth in the depth, and breadth of faith.
“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:17-19 ESV
In our relationships with our spouses this sense of loss can be just as true. As a matter of fact it is an exceptional example to use, because it too is founded in love. When we are first in love it is like a flood. The water is rushing over, and through us, like it does down narrow mountain gorges, and cascades over steep waterfalls into waiting passes; roaring. At its headwaters our love is clear and swift, but as it runs from the mountains into the foothills it seems to lose vigor. Although it is the same water, having picked up more volume, and color, from new streams and springs along the way, it seems to rush less; while still remaining a purposeful flow. This change comes as the banks have widened, and although swift it doesn’t appear to rush quite as quickly. Then, as it passes through farmland, and meanders its way into the lowlands of the coastal plains the river darkens, deepens, and its banks grow even further apart... now the amount of water it carries has increased immensely, and yet it’s surface is smooth, and it seems to flow in an almost lazy manner until at last it mingles with the sea, where it becomes indistinguishable from that great expanse. This is love, and life; it is the natural progression of our loving relationship as it gushes forth lustily in our youth and settles itself into the various landscapes of our aging lives together.
We have certain terms and sayings for these changes that occur, and how they can impact our feelings and perceptions of the relationship; terms such as seven year itch, midlife crises, and fading love, and we go to counselors, and pastors in an attempt to reinvigorate our marriages. This really isn’t loving less, but longing for how we once loved... a return to the mountain gorges, and waterfalls that were so exciting, and a time when the scenery of life was new, and less familiar. I once heard a wonderful description of this in a movie when an aging father said these words to his daughter...
“When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots are become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the desire to mate every second of the day. It is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every part of your body. No... don't blush. I am telling you some truths. For that is just being in love; which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over, when being in love has burned away. Doesn't sound very exciting, does it? But it is!” - Dr. Iannis from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Our faith goes through changes just as the relationship with our spouse does. It rushes from the mountains to the sea, and all along the way we must adjust to the new seasons we find ourselves in. We adjust to the peace in Christ, the faith and grace on which we stand, the hope that encourages us, and yes... the suffering that feeds our endurance. Each of these leads us to a different place in which we must decide again, and again, if our roots are still intertwined, and just as in our human love, we must learn the new lessons along the way so that our togetherness can survive. Scripture says it in this way...
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:1-5 ESV
So we learn to love in life, and to love in faith; both requiring us to change, and both consisting of moments that once we have lived them, cannot be undone. It is the intertwining of our roots with one another, and with God. Neither of these can be realized, and appreciated without a determination to stay the course, and to actually have lived them.
“for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
James 1:3-4 ESV
When people long for their lusty past, the mountain passes of love, or the moment they first believed in Jesus, they are limiting themselves, and not letting their relationship, or faith, grow. In this way a life together is stifled, and that moment of introspective when we fully realize our faith, or that our roots really are intertwined is lost, and the comfort this growing together brings will never be allowed to occur.
So, our love for one another doesn’t really wane, or our faith fade, but rather we are progressing, and need to grasp the fullness of this change; the excitement, or the comfort that a new season brings us. Are you looking back at the moment when your faith first erupted and judging every new season based on what you felt at that instant? Well perhaps it is time to open yourself up to the width, and depth, of a new landscape in your belief. Are you ready to mature beyond your honeymoon of faith?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for that moment when I first believed, but thank you more for every new day since, as you show me something amazing, and we grow closer together. Thank you for the excitement, the suffering, the steadfastness, and even the doldrums, as you teach me to see you more completely, and love you deeper. Help me Holy Father to always look forward as we journey, and not to look back with longing, or want to pitch my tent in any certain meadow along the way. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who transforms me, and leads me into a deeper, and broader relationship with you. Praised be your name for the seasons of life, and the beauty we encounter together. You are Glorious indeed Father, and whether in mercy, grace, or those still moments when we stand quietly together, I feel your love, and give you mine. Let me be grafted into you Father, or grow so closely that my roots will become intertwined with yours... inseparable.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Psalms 23:6 ESV
Rich Forbes