Most of us are aware of times when we try to be noticed, valued and a part of what is happening. I even know of some people who sit and silently listen to others so that they will be noticed as someone who listen to others. I’m not like that. I like to be known right up front. My personal struggle with self-love vibrates from nano-seconds of giving and taking, humility and seeking popularity, the fear of God and the desire to please man.
Lately the Lord has been leading me to the place where it does not matter. Often this is both a physical and spiritual place. It is not a place of care-lessness. It is rather the place of surrender to “things” and joy in being. If the Lord takes you to this place you will find out how little joy you have in being (existing) and how much happiness you have because of stuff, things. It is not bad to be happy because of things, this world and everything in it was made for us to enjoy. We all should be happy people. Yet when the things are the main source of our happiness, we are no longer attached to God as the source. Stuff is out source of joy. So that means our personal joy and happieness is directly tied to things.
What I am trying to point out is that living in such a way that things are insignificant takes you to the Significant One. God stays enthroned upon out hearts and we find that we have a source of joy and peace that transcends doing and having. Now comes the hard part.
At first in our self-love form of Christianity we do not want God, but rather His things, His power, His giftings, His favor, His unlimited grace. These in themselves are so great that we could spend out whole lives enjoying them. Many people do just that. They live in the place of significant things and even will argue that there is no other place. But to the person who has moved beyond significant into that other place, the argument is not just wrong, but deceptive. Do we really what the love of things to keep us from the Love of God? Not the “knowing about” the love of God but the “entering into” the love of God. The hard part is that you have to transition from the “good” to the “best” by faith.
When we voluntary give up the good things in the hope of entering in the love of God, we have taken a risk, or we have exercised our faith. At these moments we must deal with a God who is Lord and deal with our personal selves full of expectations, desires and even judgments as to what God is like. Many people never enjoy the “God who is there” because they labor to know the “God of their personal desires.” The way that God reveals this deception to us or tries to open our hearts toward Him is to offend us. The pathway to entering into the love of God is through the gate of offence and upon the pathway of insignificance of things.
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