Blog

Observation

It’s crazy when God says “I have come for the sick, sinners,” and many, if not most, think God only likes good people. Many people disqualify themselves from Gods presence because of their lack of ‘goodness,’ whereas God says if you think you’re good then you don’t need me. God’s interested in restoring people into relationship with him who desire that, not those who deserve that. He is looking to extend unending mercy to those of us who know we don’t make it into his goodness based on our sacrifice to be good, but because we have no sacrifice we can make that can make us good, so all we are left with is to receive His mercy, His grace, His forgiveness. Wholeness does not come through my efforts, they come through His mercy. Healing does not come through my attempts at health, it comes through my embrace of brokenness, for now I need a doctor of my soul.

Too often God is so poorly portrayed to love ‘good’ people and judge and destroy ‘bad’ people. There is no question that God calls and invites us in Himself into a ‘good’ life that He explains and enables us to live. But this life flows exclusively from His mercy to receive us and embrace us always as we are. If you can’t always in life be embraced by God in your brokenness, ugliness, sinfulness, whatever term you want to use, then you will never be able to be still in His intimacy that leads you to and enables your wholeness. If you can’t rest forever, at all times, in all seasons, in is His mercy and grace, if you at any point allow your poor performance to remove you from His presence, then you will always find yourself alone trying to navigate life, and you will never enter into the fullness of the life God intends.

The life God calls us into is to enter into our brokenness, for its as I become aware of my own ugly, do I seek His mercy, and it is only His mercy that heals. But if God only likes ‘good’ people then I run from, mask and hide my ugly, pretending I have worth to be accepted by my goodness, my “sacrifices”, and this in turn disqualifies me from wanting or seeking His mercy, and healing. Hear Jesus clearly, “I did not come for the good, I came to restore and redeem the ugly.” Embrace my ugly receive His mercy.

Application

Self attempts, “sacrifices” to make myself appear “healthy” kill me. Mercy is only received when mercy is sought. If all I am trying to do is prove myself worthy, then I will never prove His mercy is enough. Mostly those who have disqualified themselves from being acceptable to God based on their badness, are the only ones who are postured to be restored, they just got the story wrong. If you think God could never accept you because of your performance, then you miss the point, it’s your awareness of your ‘badness’ that makes you postured perfectly for His mercy. You’ve recognised yourself clearly, you have just missed seeing God clearly. It’s only those who don’t know their bad that miss out on His good. I will always embrace my ugly and say “God thank you for your mercy and forgiveness.” Now I enter His embrace.

Response

Thank you that you don’t want me to sacrifice myself on the never ending road of attempting to be worthy of your embrace. It’s a merciless descent into torment when I try and be good enough for you to notice and like me. Thank you that your affection and love, your mercy and grace, your forgiveness and restoration are always in the already for everyone. We don’t have to make ourselves deserving, we just have to receive you in your already posture of embracing us. Thank you that you embrace me in my broken state. What a great life.

Meditation

Meditate – It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick

Consider:
How often do I disqualify myself from Gods embrace because of my ugly?
Do I live always embraced, on my worst most putrid ugliest day, do I know the beauty of Gods embrace?