Glading Memorial Presbyterian Church

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LOVING GOD

You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
Mark 12:28-31

Stripped down to the bare essentials, growing with Jesus means:

• Growing in love for God;
• Growing in the assurance that we are loved by a loving God;
• Growing in love for God's people;
• Growing in love for God's work in the world.

Meeting God – particularly in cases when the encounter is a sudden and dramatic one – often produces euphoria. Suddenly, the world is new and seems ablaze with beauty that you never noticed before. You want to tell the whole world of your wonderful discovery! Loving God may be easy then. Loving others may not be so hard, either.

Like any relationship, however, your relationship with God will have its ups and downs, not because God changes (God doesn't) but because you are growing and changing – sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.

There may be times when God seems far away. God doesn't seem to answer your prayers. Someone you love is ill, and God does not heal them. Your life takes a downward turn and God seems to do nothing to prevent it. You ask for something reasonable and God seems to be saying "no." Or, worse still, God seems to turn his back on you. These are the times when loving God may come less easily. You may feel betrayed. You may, in fact, be downright angry with God. It is not a comfortable feeling.

There may be other times when everything seems to going your way. You start thinking that you can handle things after all. Allegiance to a demanding God, no matter how loving, begins to look less attractive than what the secular world seems to be offering. You may start to drift away from God.

Not one person who has set off on the road of faith, including Jesus, has escaped these challenges.

• The Psalms are full of cries from the heart. Praying the Psalms through reading can be a particular source of solace at these times.
• Meditation provides periods of silence, in order to hear God's word and feel God's love. The written record of Jesus' ministry indicates that he frequently went off alone to pray and be open to God's word and will for him – particularly in times of crisis.
• Small groups offer a chance for intimate sharing that can help break down the sense of isolation that often accompanies a spiritual dry spell.
• Witness to others. If you have forgotten what your life was like without the Lord, the act of sharing how God has worked in you will surely remind you.
• Serving others may help you remember the many blessings God has showered upon you.