The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in 2 Thessalonians 1:3,
"We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and
rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love
all of you have for one another is increasing."
Paul was thankful to God for the growth in faith, "growing more and
more", and increase he saw in their love for one another.
Just musing here... I have a question. How much faith would be enough
in Paul's view? How much love would be enough in Paul's view?
I'm probably going to get some push-back for what I say here, but it
is something I find the Scriptures stir within my heart - frequently.
It springs from what God reveals of himself. He is not someone to be
painted in nice relaxing pastels, he is not mild, he is not what we
might call "reserved" or taciturn. Not the quiet type. As I read of
God, as I read the things he has to say of himself, as I read of the
things he has done, I have found him to be with an overwhelmingly
"big" personality of bright and bold colors. He is passionate. I mean
crazy-passionate (if you understand what I'm saying here). His sense
of justice is not of some milquetoast bureaucratic judge, but an
horrific and frightening final arbiter of all things, whose judgment
can be dreadfully horrendous. His love is overwhelming, astonishing,
prompting him to do things that are both startling and astounding. Big
emotions, really big emotions with correspondingly big actions.
We happen to live during a time where God's actions and his
involvement in the affairs of mankind may not often reflect the full
intensity of his being, but the Scriptures assure us, his
self-revelation to us assures us, that he is very intense and very
passionate even if we may not experience that on a daily basis. I am
entirely convinced we could not survive the intensity of his
personality were we exposed to its fulness on an ongoing basis.
So we read things like the Lord's comment that those who are just a
little too composed, a little too "balanced", a little too moderate,
make the him sick, Revelation 3:16, etc. The heroes he points for us
to look up to did amazing things born of a fiery and passionate faith,
Hebrews 11.
When I was young in the church, I somehow had the notion that nice
Christians were well-balanced individuals who were well composed, who
showed up in the fellowship all showered up in clean clothes with a
pleasant disposition. All things attended to properly, in a "nice"
manner. Passion, "gusto", a fiery outlook just did not seem to fit
into the picture. And, unfortunately, my perspective on God seemed to
follow suit. I could not have been more wrong.
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that believers should strive to
be offensive or overbearing. However, when it comes to how much faith
is "enough faith" and how much love is "enough love", I think we might
find the answer well beyond our consideration. If our God is intense,
it is no wonder we find Paul, Peter and others astonishingly intense
while seeking passion from the rest of us. Passionate faith,
passionate love, passionate expression of our embrace of Jesus Christ.
I suspect this passion that should be ours for the things of God as
well as the passion of our reaction to what we see of God is in fact
what God has made us for. I believe he has even wired us this way as
our Creator. I could be wrong here, but it seems to me that many who
have yet to discover God's wonderful love in the gospel message, and
found this love as his expression to us -- as his response to our
faith in him -- are needy. They experience a God-sized hole in their
hearts that only our intensely passionate God can fill. Nothing in
this life can quite fill it, so they struggle with an emptiness, a
void where passion should be, where excitement should be, where
intensity should be.
I'm not speaking of all people. Lets face it, there are many among us
we might consider as simply "duds". I don't think we are all wired by
God the same for passion, but I believe there are plenty of people who
do struggle with that emptiness that the intensity and passion that
only God can provide can satisfy, and the struggle can be intense for
them. I'm thinking here of folks who struggle with an emptiness, have
not embraced the Lord in faith, at least not yet, and are driven to
find fulfillment in ways that many around them just cannot understand.
They may be looking in all the wrong places.
It is my thought that the desperate need to assuage that emptiness can
find its expression in alcohol abuse, drug abuse, sexual perversions
and addictions, etc. This list could be long here but I think you get
the point. It is my belief that it is these very individuals who would
become some of the most wonderful believers, were they to look in the
right place - to Jesus Christ to find fulfillment where emptiness
exists. They, I believe, are the ones that have the greatest capacity
for the things of God, the greatest capacity for intensity and passion
for the things of God. Things like a growing faith and an increasing
love.
As I say... just musing here. In the meantime, may we all grow in our
faith and may our love increase in ways that are worthy of our
passionate God.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send
me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are
receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just
respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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