I had such bright
hopes and dreams
when I believed
I could
be anything
I tried
strived
over-achieved
if thoughts manifest reality
the American Dream
wouldn’t be
unreachable
and life would be
different
all I truly wanted
was freedom to be me
without threat, violence
shame or compromise
how tragic
being me
proved to be
the hardest thing
~ LaShawnda Jones, 2020
Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you.
Psalm 26:2-3 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Psalm%2026:2-3&version=NRSV
prov·ing ground: an environment that serves to demonstrate whether something, such as a theory or product, really works.
What do you believe about your belief?
I have a friend who is going through a tumultuous season with her teenage son. She’s a believer who has struggled, like all of us, with understanding how to apply the Word to her life. And how to be the Word in her life. Her focus is selective with an attempt at literal application. Over the years, she has repeatedly missed the same mark. A mark that appears to me to be an easy goal. Simple to achieve. No hardship at all. Her test has been love. Love is her proving ground. Truthfully speaking, love is the proving ground for all of us.
What do you know or understand about love?
I know that God is Love. I know that He created a human version of Himself to live among the rest of His creation here on Earth in order to minister to us in our sin, our sorrow, our disappointments, our madness, our bondage, our sickness, and even in our death. Love is so much more powerful than obedience, preferences, plans, lifestyle, ideals, gender, sexuality and doctrine.
Love covers a multitude of sins because love is not diminished by sin. But perhaps love is proved by sin.
Do you love me?
No.
Why not?
Because you hurt me.
Then you never loved me at all.
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
~ Proverbs 10:12 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2010:12&version=NRSV
People who sin against you, violate your trust, hurt your heart, betray your relationship – whatever the trespass may be – are still precious to the Lord. God has not stopped loving the person you turned your back on because they do not live the way you want them to live. He is actually proving to that person that you had no understanding of love at all. You who were to be this person’s light and source of love took action to drive them further into darkness instead.
How do you respond when your interpretation of the Bible is challenged by a situation within your own family or friend circles?
Do you respond in love, with your heart and spirit projecting the love God gave the world when He laid Himself down for His creation?
Or do you respond in ego, in self, with pride.
ego: a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance.
self: a person or thing referred to with respect to complete individuality; a person’s nature, character; personal interest.
pride: a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.; the state or feeling of being proud; a becoming or dignified sense of what is due to oneself or one’s position or character; self-respect; self-esteem.
If we believe God IS who He says He Is, then we know His Word is performative. He didn’t just just tell us about love being gentle, long-suffering, kind, selfless and faithful. He gave us His Spirit of Love from the beginning when He breathed His Life into our lungs. And again in the middle when He sacrificed His form, His Son, Jesus, to show both obedience to the responsibility of love and the extreme performance of love. No one on Earth is worthy to be the Lamb. Not one person. There has never been an alternative to Jesus. No person created has been a potential stand-in cross-bearer for His assignment. Yet Jesus chose to die for us all. Not because we deserve His death, His blood, His concern, or His sacrifice. We didn’t then and we still don’t. And certainly not because He wanted to die for a dying, sinning populace. But Jesus too is a product and conduit of love. He is the Word Love personified. And even He said that those who come after Him will perform greater deeds than He did. Those who believe in Him, will perform Love better than Jesus. Imagine that.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
~ John 14:11-12 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=John%2014:11-12&version=NRSV
As you consider Love, evaluate your relationships, especially the strained, difficult ones. In your interactions with the people dear to you, do you represent Love? Are you taking the responsibility of gentleness, kindness, patience, care, sacrifice and faithfulness seriously? Or are you focused only on self – your beliefs, your concerns, your perspective? The bumps and boulders in the road are your tests. Your relationships and daily interactions are your proving ground. As long as you are alive, it’s not too late to take on the responsibility of love and prove yourself the perfect conduit within your circles.
Job Replies: I Am a Laughingstock
Then Job answered:
“No doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these?
I am a laughingstock to my friends;
I, who called upon God and he answered me,
a just and blameless man, I am a laughingstock.
Those at ease have contempt for misfortune,[a]
but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.
The tents of robbers are at peace,
and those who provoke God are secure,
who bring their god in their hands.[b]
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you;
the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
ask the plants of the earth,[c] and they will teach you;
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of every human being.
Does not the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?
Is wisdom with the aged,
and understanding in length of days?
“With God[d] are wisdom and strength;
he has counsel and understanding.
If he tears down, no one can rebuild;
if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.
If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
With him are strength and wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.
He leads counselors away stripped,
and makes fools of judges.
He looses the sash of kings,
and binds a waistcloth on their loins.
He leads priests away stripped,
and overthrows the mighty.
He deprives of speech those who are trusted,
and takes away the discernment of the elders.
He pours contempt on princes,
and looses the belt of the strong.
He uncovers the deeps out of darkness,
and brings deep darkness to light.
He makes nations great, then destroys them;
he enlarges nations, then leads them away.
He strips understanding from the leaders[e] of the earth,
and makes them wander in a pathless waste.
They grope in the dark without light;
he makes them stagger like a drunkard.
Footnotes:
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know the truth. And you know that no lie comes from the truth.
22 Who is the liar? It is the person who does not accept Jesus as the Christ [Messiah, Anointed One]. This is the enemy of Christ: the person who does not accept the Father and His Son. 23 Whoever does not accept the Son does not have the Father. But whoever confesses the Son has the Father, too.
24 Be sure you continue to follow the teaching you heard from the beginning. If you continue to follow what you heard from the beginning, you will stay in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what the Son promised to us—life forever.
26 I am writing this letter about those people who are trying to lead you the wrong way. 27 Christ gave you a special gift that is still in you, so you do not need any other teacher. His gift teaches you about everything, and it is true, not false. So continue to live in Christ, as His gift taught you. (1 John 2: 21-26)
I had a conversation Christmas night that was still reverberating in my mind the next morning.
The person was telling me that all religions that put god at the top are essentially seeking the same thing. The believers of these religions all believe in the same god. He went on to say that he is partial to Islam because it’s the religion that makes the most sense to him. He appreciates Jesus as a prophet. He acknowledges that Jesus came and did what He was supposed to do – as He was instructed to do by God. Then he went on to say that Jesus is no more special than any other prophet. No more special than Moses or Noah. All the prophets had a job they had to do, he said, and then continued, “My niece is running around saying today is God’s birthday… this is what I don’t get about Christians – how they can believe Jesus is God and that God was born.”
We both said at that point with equal smugness, “God doesn’t have a birthday.”
The last thing I wanted to do was have a debate about Jesus on Christmas. I’m not a Jesus scholar. I’m a Jesus believer. And as a believer, there are some things that I accept simply because they are, not because I can make sense of it.
One thing I intuit for sure, because of my belief and faith, is that God IS – He has always existed and always will exist. He is the creator of all things – seen, unseen, spiritual, material, emotional, physical, and psychological.
What the Bible teaches me is that Jesus Christ is the eternal Word of God. The Word of God existed at the beginning and the Word was with God. God created everything through the Word and the Word gave life to everything that was created. (John 1:1-5)
The person claiming Jesus wasn’t special beyond being a prophet didn’t allow me much space to speak. You know how those “conversations” go, where people are intent on speaking their mind, but aren’t interested in hearing anything on yours. So I had to interrupt him as he was going down the line of prophets and their assignments, “There is a hierarchy to the prophets,” I said. “Yes, they all had their own responsibilities, but Jesus is the only one called the Son of God. That makes Him more than just a prophet.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes. The Bible teaches that Jesus is the one and only Son of God and it is only through Him that we can be adopted as sons and daughters of God.”
“Listen, LaShawnda, there’s no need to argue with someone who’s already admitted a belief in God.”
I was a bit bemused by the way he shut me down. But then I realized that most of the conversation was him saying what he wanted to say – I didn’t have the space to argue. As I write this, I realize that I said exactly what needed to be said.
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
16 From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us. (John 1:10-14, 16-18)
