God's Desire, Even When I Mess Up
English is a funny language. Many words have a wide variety of meanings.
For example, the meaning of the word “frog” can be confusing. It can be the amphibian critter that hangs out around water ponds, a part of a horse’s hoof, a thing that holds up flowers in a floral arrangement, something you have in your throat on some mornings, a clasp used to hold clothing together or hold a pin to fabric. So if someone were to say to you, “I want to talk to you about a frog,” you wouldn’t know for sure what was coming next.
Then there is the secret language each generation comes up with that seems designed to exclude the older generations from understanding. Words like ”sick” can mean really good, “bad” can mean good, “groovy” and “the cat’s meow” can mean really good. It just depends on what generation you happen to come from. And, if you are in the oldest generation you can begin to play the secret language lesson all over again. Just say to someone from the “sick” generation that that sunset was really “the cat’s meow.”
I mentioned in a recent sermon that when we use the term “God’s plan,” others may have differing ideas as to what that means. And we ourselves might not fully understand the implications of what we are saying.
“God’s plan” conjures up some notion of a pre-determined blueprint by which the world will proceed and how we are to proceed in it. Yet, if there is a pre-determined plan, what choice do we have in our lives.
If we choose door number one, that is God’s plan. If we choose door number three, that is God’s plan. So whether we do good or evil can be seen as part of God’s plan. But, our relationship with God is one of love. At the very least God loves us and we try to love God. There is a love relationship between us and the divine that is working its way out in our lives.
Remember when you fell in love for the first time? Did you say to the object of your affection, “Oh my darling, I have a plan for your life?” How romantic is that? To have someone want to control us to the point of having everything pre-planned is not all that comforting to most of us.
In fact, most of us would resent such a constraining relationship. We want a relationship that offers freedom and intimacy, adventure and safety. I think a better way of understanding God’s relationship with us may be to say that God has a desire for us. After all, in our love relationships, doesn’t “I have a desire for you” sound a lot better than “I have a plan for you”?
Healthy love is more about desiring good for the other than it is about desiring that the other perform a plan. God has a desire for us. It is to live a good life, one full of joy.
The path to that good and joyful life can vary from moment to moment. It can mean being a good student at one point and being a good teacher at another. It can mean being a good child at one point and being a good parent at another. It can mean serving one day and being served another. What is important all along the way is maintaining an open relationship with God that allows us to respond to God’s desire for our lives in an open and healthy way.
I like that God has a desire for me, even when I mess up. When I make a mess of things, God meets me where I am and, in my new situation, offers God’s new desire for me. There is always another chance with a God whose love is infinite. And, that is a good example for us to follow with those we share this world with.
Related posts:
