Stretchers

I’m convinced that we all have people in our lives that are hard to put up with. Hard to love. I know that I most definitely do. These people are the ones that have wronged you so many times you can’t count the number of wrongs on your fingers and toes. The people that you have no reason to trust. The people that have GIANT and visible sins in their lives. The people that keep messing up over and over and over again. The people that have hurt you, that’ve cut you deep. The same people that don’t even want your help. They scoff in your face when you try to do the right thing and you just end up getting discouraged again and again. 

 Maybe that’s just me…but I know there are others out there. And if you don’t have anyone in your life that has challenged you in the way that you love them, then I hope that one day you are blessed with a (let’s call them) stretcher. Because stretchers make you grow and push you closer to Jesus by showing you more and more ways that God loves us. We don’t make it a walk in the park for him either (or in the garden…Garden of Eden…Genesis…too cheesy? haha).

 I heard this song tonight, by JJ Heller, called “If You Fall”…it has this one special line in it “Everything in me wants to run, but that’s not love”. Dude. Intense right? Filled a pothole in my heart. It’s so biblical right? Okay so we are created to reflect God right? And ideally we do that by living as much like Him as possible right? So that logic should be applied to every aspect of our lives, ESPECIALLY how we treat other people…how we treat everyone. How we l-o-v-e other people. How many verses in His Word can you count that talk about loving our neighbors…loving everyone as Christ loved us….loving people the way we love ourselves…there’s a lot isn’t there? So let’s look at how God loves us to shed some light on how we are to love everyone in our lives…even the ones that we cry over and stop telling people about because they get tired of hearing about how many times things don’t go well and that we pray about every night and try not to worry over.

 One of the first examples of seeing God’s love in action is in the garden of Eden. Go along with me here. Eve has just taken the apple from the snake, who told her that eating it would enlighten her to everything she did not yet know. She gives it to Adam too. They both eat it. They both realize they’re naked and cover themselves. Then, God comes to be with them, because he delights in being with his creation. But guess what? They hide from Him. They’re ashamed of themselves. Why? Because they picked an apple over God. Their tangible father. God had been flat out rejected. Dumped. Cheated on. What’s worse? He was dumped for His enemy. How awful of a feeling would that be? (Imagine your boyfriend, who you’re madly in love with, cheats on you with the one girl you absolutely do not like….yikes).

 But what did God do? Did he run away to make Himself feel better? Did he de-friend and block Adam and Eve on social networking sites? Did He give up? Did he grow bitter and resentful? THANK GOODNESS HE DIDN’T. Thank You, Lord, for not reacting to our betrayal, to my betrayal, the same way that I react when people hurt me.

 Guess what He did? He CHASED after them. Adam and Eve were hiding and God walked briskly. (imagine a dad who has lost their child at the mall.) He walked panicking trying to find them. He called out for them. He knew what they had done, He felt that hurt and sorrow but he still searched for them. While they were rejecting Him and turning away from Him, he kept trying to be with them. Ultimately he kept on trying to reach us and to bring us back to Him until he sent His perfect son to die in our place so that we could be with him eternally.

 

So what does this mean for me? For our lives? How about it means we don’t run out on people just because they wronged us? We don’t run out on people just because they made or are still making mistakes. Loving someone, which is what we are called to do towards everyone around us, means putting them above ourselves. What does that look like? When we’re in pain, when we’re annoyed, when we feel bitter, we shove those feelings at God, we let Him know that they are there, and we push towards better loving that person. Sometimes you have to put their salvation above your own comfort, your own pride. Now, loving someone can and does look different for everyone and in all situations, but please don’t use that as a cop out for abandoning someone that needs you and your love. Allow yourself to feel the toughness of loving a stretcher. Let those people show you how much you need Jesus, and how undeserving of His love we are, and what His intention for our lives is. Keep chasing after those people because that is what love does. That’s what God does for everyone…me and you included. Reflect that biblical love today. I mean God’s relentless pursuit is the gospel is it not? So let’s be a walking version of the gospel for those stretchers today. Your love could impact their hearts more than you could know. You, reflecting God to them, could be God's way of bringing them back to His arms.