Monday Musing-As You Are

Belinda Kersey 1/28/2012

The Song
"Come as You Are" by Pocket Full of Rocks

God’s Word
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28

 

My Thoughts

On a day I was feeling unworthy of God’s love,  restless and out of sorts, I chose to change the radio dial from my regular station to one I hadn’t listened to in a long time.  The moment I settled on the frequency,  I heard these words “He's not mad at you, He's not disappointed”.  It seemed a “God thing” for me to hear this song.  This was a day I needed reminding that God sees me as I am-every single flaw and failing-and He still loves me.  He wants me to bring every imperfection to Him so He can turn the ashes of failure into beauty for Him. 

Jesus wants every soul to know “You can come as you are,  with all your broken pieces and all your shameful scars”. Unfortunately, many people fail to come to Him because they believe they have to clean up their act before they can deserve His love. The irony is, no matter what we do, we will never deserve the Love of a perfect God; but my friend,  “His grace is greater still, than all of (our) wrong choices, He is full of mercy and he is ever kind”.   

In the early 1990’s, my husband and I worked for a Teen Challenge center.  The young men and women we worked with all had different pasts, varied issues and came from all over the USA.  However they did have a  couple of things in common;  they all shared soul scars and they all desperately desired love and acceptance.

It took time and God’s love to break through the walls they had erected and to teach their hearts to hear their Savior. They desperately needed to hear Him calling  “Louder than the voice that whispers you’re unworthy , Hear the sound of love,  that tells a different story”.  Once the walls started to crumble and their hearts began to open, there was nothing more joyful and gratifying  than to see one of these lambs of God “bring it all to Jesus”.  When God shattered “their darkness and (pushed) through the lies”,  their countenance changed, their personality bloomed and they were freed from the pain they held in their heart.  

Our precious Savior has always looked for the broken hearted and has desired to lift up the downtrodden.  No better example of His unfailing love and mercy for humanity’s outcasts can be found than the moment in John 8 when He told the woman caught in the very act of adultery “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” He didn’t tell her to go get some clothes on and come back and fall before Him in contrition.  He did not tell her to leave His sight because she was unworthy to be in His presence.  He didn’t tell her to live a life of purity for 3 months and then ask for forgiveness.  No, the Perfect One, God Incarnate looked at her, in her sin and depravity, with eyes of forgiveness, compassion and love.  He told her to begin a new life from that moment on and to sin no more. 

Our sweet heavenly Father wants to do the same work in your heart.  He wants you to know,  no matter what you have done,  He is waiting for you with open arms.  Come as you are to The God of the Universe, He does not condemn you.

Your Response
God loves you and is longing to hear you say you are giving Him all your burdens and pain.  Turn it over to His capable hands today and choose to live a life of grace and forgiveness.