Instead I
want to look at a quote that I ran across the other day. It is from the book Red Leaves by Thomas H. Cook (I haven’t
read it other than a page long excerpt): “Love, you have decided by then, is a
form of armor.”
When I
first read that, it felt wrong to me. Love seems the opposite of armor. It is a
weapon or it is removing armor, but it is definitely not armor. Sure, love
might make you feel strong and invincible, but what love really is is exposing
yourself to being hurt. That takes a lot of trust. On Sunday I was given a word
about being compassionate. I was told that that might lead to people taking
advantage of me but I need to keep loving. Can I be honest? In some ways I felt
like I had already let my heart harden in some areas. That word made me aware
of that and my heart has been softened. My prayer for this past week (and
hopefully the rest of my life) is for God to break my heart for what breaks His
and for me to have the courage to do something about it. I don’t want to just
be aware that there’s a person who is hurting, I want to have the courage to talk
to that person, comfort him or her, and ask if I can pray for him or her. I
want the pain in my heart to be so great for that person that I cannot ignore
it. I want my heart to burn.
Sorry, that
was a bit off topic, but I want to be honest and transparent with anyone
reading this. I’m not satisfied with where I am right now, but I’m going to get
there. And when I do, you better watchout because I’m going to be that crazy
person who God created me to be. In other words, I’m going to change the world.
Love is a
weapon. “Your heart is a weapon the size of your fist. Keep fighting. Keep
loving.” I don’t know where that originally came from, but I love it. Life is a
battle. God won the war, but we need to fight the enemy every second of every
day of our lives. And like Haymitch (from the Hunger Games) said, you have to
know who the enemy is. I don’t care what a person has done to you or anybody
else, they are not the real enemy. They need love. The enemy is Satan. Fight
him, love others. Love defeats everything.
Love is
exposing yourself. Almost all of us have shells to protect us. Some shells are
think, some are thin. If you ever meet someone without a shell, it is amazing.
Todd White is one of those people who is so honest about everything. He is so
amazing because he knows exactly who God has created him to be and he lives
that out completely. Every time I see him, God blows my mind with what He says
through Todd.
Every time
I think about vulnerability I think about a short story by Flannery O’Conner
called “Good Country People” (read it! http://faculty.weber.edu/jyoung/English%206710/Good%20Country%20People.pdf).
Like all of O’Conner’s stories, it’s twisted. At least in this one no one dies…
There are no guarantees in life. People will hurt you, but you have to take
that risk. When you love someone, you have to be willing to let them take your
glasses (even though you may not be able to see clearly or very far without
them) and your wooden leg (even though that means you will then have to rely on
that person). After all, the glasses and wooden leg aren’t who you are.
Todd White: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek8p3m9HdZ4, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4qbnRM5csI
Walk like Jesus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWmqDnZvo1M
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