Gentle Jesus

"God is okay with me."

ONE THING I’ve learned in the last 5 years: God is okay with me. Every time I think I’ve goofed up and He’s not talking now, He speaks and sounds like usual. I said this before, but we take these rabbit trails away from Him, led astray by our emotions and confused thoughts, and we find ourselves staring at a landscape we don’t recognize. Coming-to is the first step in the right direction. We have to see we’ve gotten off track. But when we retrace our path to Him, He looks the same, He sounds the same, He loves us just as much as ever. So I’ve stopped condemning myself. None of what happened to me is my fault. None of it. And where I missed the next step and went left, He’s covered all my wrong tracks. They’re just gone.

It is such a relief to live every moment of every day free of worry about errors. Free of worry about pleasing God. God isn’t picky. We make Him that way. But what God wants is our entire heart. In Romans 14, the apostle Paul talks about people who don’t eat like you, don’t worship like you, and I’ll add don’t dress like you. We look at them and say, “They should be free of that.” But what God sees isn’t them in bondage to a way of life but that they’ve dedicated their life to doing what they believe pleases Him. He isn’t throwing stones. We do that, trying to make everyone do as we’ve decided they should.

The Father made Jesus Judge (John 5:22), and His judgment was to die for us and give everyone complete salvation. He became Savior in order to forgive. And His forgiveness is with complete knowledge of everything about us. For all of it, He is mercy. And the healing of our soul is full restoration (Psalm 23:3), regardless of how mixed up we are. No matter how we’ve wandered, when we see Him again, He speaks the same, and we can let go of any condemnation because it always, always comes in from self-doubt. He says we are His and isn’t ever going to change His mind about that.

I’ve changed mine about many things in these last few years. Who He really is, being the biggest one of them. He is near to me, for one important thing. He is with me for every step of every day and helps me with even the simplest parts of life. He laughs at mistakes, for another. We need to laugh more at ourselves and let things go. What we’ve said He’s all serious about, He isn’t. Jesus lives as us. He grew up, a kid with brothers and sisters. He had aunts and uncles and cousins and annoying neighbors. He ate someone’s bad-tasting food. Sat next to that off-beat tambourine player. And has heard a few not-so-funny jokes. He died for people, knowing how they are. Our missteps aren’t written in His book but buried instead beneath His sacrifice and love so great, it would endure a humiliating death to show it.

Being patient with us is the point. Being kind is as well. Kindness is His nature. And the reason why I’m not afraid to retrace my steps back to where I last talked to Him. The reason why I say to you all the time, Church Jesus isn’t Him at all. Because when my life was very dark and God spoke, everything He said was gentle and full of hope. And nothing I faced was mine to fix but all of it was His.


----------
Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com