What does love look like?

Charlotte’s carnelian transformed

“What does love look like?  It has the hands to help others.  It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy.  It has eyes to see misery and want.  It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.  That is what love looks like.”- St. Augustine

“May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us- yes, establish the work of our hands.”- Psalm 90:7

An unremarkable ring lay unnoticed among the numerous items in my mother Elinor’s jewelry box.  The ring had a red carnelian mounted on a thin, tarnished band.  My wife Vicki often remarked that the ring looked like a prize from a box of Cracker Jack.

The carnelian had belonged to my maternal grandmother, Charlotte Dahlke.  It was her engagement ring prior to her marriage in 1906.  Although affordable diamond rings started to appear in mail-order catalogs such as Sears & Roebuck in the 1890s, diamonds continued to be viewed as the domain of the aristocracy.

Tradition favored simpler engagement bands- like Grandma Charlotte’s.  Contrary to its appearance, the carnelian had great significance.  Almost ninety years later, a Des Plaines (IL) jeweler transformed Charlotte’s engagement ring into its current setting.

What does love look like?  According to pastor and author Matt Bays (Finding God in the Ruins), people who love truly are great at subtraction:

“I’ve often heard that a burden shared is divided by two.  But there are moments, in the company of those who care, when it feels like a huge minus has replaced the division sign and our burdens aren’t divided at all; they’re being subtracted.  And subtraction is always better than division because when things are subtracted, they disappear altogether.”

As our burdens disappear, space is created in our heart for the Holy Spirit.  Henri Nouwen (The Wounded Healer) notes the Holy Spirit’s heart is greater, His eyes see more, and His hands heal more than our own heart, eyes, and hands.  This enables us to transform, rather than transmit, our pain.

Max Lucado encourages us to share God’s grace with others.  After all, he writes, if grace is compared to a wheat field, the Lord has bequeathed us the state of Kansas!  Accepting God’s grace means you vow to give grace to others.

What does love look like?  What does God see in you?  Max has the answer:

“Marginalized and discarded?  Others may think so.  You may think so.  But God sees in you a masterpiece.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4kTivO3uqI

 

What does love look like?

Rule and reign

“God . . . is growing us up; we too must learn to rule and reign.”- John Eldredge

John Eldredge concludes Chapter 5 of Moving Mountains by reminding us that Jesus, the Lord of angel armies, is now in the throes of bringing His enemies under His feet- along with angelic and human forces.  For example, in 1 Kings 18 God intended to end the drought.  But Elijah played a major role.

Yes, God could take care of any problem in the blink of an eye.  However, as C.S. Lewis explained in his article “The Efficacy of Prayer,” God wants us involved:

“He seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures.  He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye.  Creation seems to be delegation through and through.”

John believes such delegation refers to major tasks as well as the authority to get them done.  Since you have been given a share of Jesus Christ’s authority, John inquires, do you wield it in prayer (emphasis mine)?  Can you see how it just might make a difference if you did wield Christ’s authority in prayer?  John offers these words of encouragement:

“You are not an orphaned child, sitting out in the hall hoping your busy Father will see one of the notes you have pushed under his door. . . . You are a son or daughter of the living God, a friend and ally, wielding his authority to get things done.  And by the way- your eternal destiny is to reign.

But God must prepare us to reign by placing us in situations where we learn to pray and use the authority He has given us.

Today’s question: What Scriptures enable you to rule and reign, praying with authority?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: the new Short Meditation, “What does love look like?”

Rule and reign