For What Do You Strive?
Monday, November 13, 2023
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:18-20, NIV.
It made no sense. He’d spent four years diligently turning himself from an overweight, heavy-smoking, hypertensive borderline alcoholic into an almost physically fit individual. He scheduled himself and his wife for comprehensive physical evaluations from which he received an excellent report. Physically he was in the best shape he’d been in for years. Eight weeks later, under the pressure of financial reverses, he thrust a knife into his chest and died.
Here was a man who’d worked so hard to please somebody-maybe a parent, maybe himself, maybe a God he didn’t understand. I had the task of preparing records for the insurance adjusters that required me to review each entry in his chart over the past 10 years. That, with a small degree of personal knowledge of him, created a haunting picture in my mind of a terribly lonely person. He must have had some unattainable image of what he must be, what he must do, and what he must obtain and maintain in life in order to be acceptable.
Most of us have experienced loneliness and the desire for acceptance. For some it’s a transient thing brought on by circumstances like moving or the loss of a loved one. For others it’s a gnawing need that eats at the very core of their existence. It seems that nothing can satisfy until they meet the demands of that emotional core.
God has an answer to meet even this. Do you long for a father’s love? Read Jeremiah 31:3, NIV: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Do you miss a mother’s love? Read Isaiah 49:15, NIV: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?” Claim this love as your own-for it truly is.
Then examine your life. Is what you are doing an effort to gain acceptance? Or is it because you are God’s and you are accepted and loved, and you are availing yourself of privileged opportunities?
Are you aggressive and fearless on the outside, but hurting and empty inside? Open that pain to Jesus. He waits for you with love.
It made no sense. He’d spent four years diligently turning himself from an overweight, heavy-smoking, hypertensive borderline alcoholic into an almost physically fit individual. He scheduled himself and his wife for comprehensive physical evaluations from which he received an excellent report. Physically he was in the best shape he’d been in for years. Eight weeks later, under the pressure of financial reverses, he thrust a knife into his chest and died.
Here was a man who’d worked so hard to please somebody-maybe a parent, maybe himself, maybe a God he didn’t understand. I had the task of preparing records for the insurance adjusters that required me to review each entry in his chart over the past 10 years. That, with a small degree of personal knowledge of him, created a haunting picture in my mind of a terribly lonely person. He must have had some unattainable image of what he must be, what he must do, and what he must obtain and maintain in life in order to be acceptable.
Most of us have experienced loneliness and the desire for acceptance. For some it’s a transient thing brought on by circumstances like moving or the loss of a loved one. For others it’s a gnawing need that eats at the very core of their existence. It seems that nothing can satisfy until they meet the demands of that emotional core.
God has an answer to meet even this. Do you long for a father’s love? Read Jeremiah 31:3, NIV: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Do you miss a mother’s love? Read Isaiah 49:15, NIV: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?” Claim this love as your own-for it truly is.
Then examine your life. Is what you are doing an effort to gain acceptance? Or is it because you are God’s and you are accepted and loved, and you are availing yourself of privileged opportunities?
Are you aggressive and fearless on the outside, but hurting and empty inside? Open that pain to Jesus. He waits for you with love.
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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