Letter to a Friend

Dear Church,

This isn't the holistic update I have been planning to write. That will come soon.

The past few weeks, I have been writing a series of letters to a dear, dear friend of mine. Tonight the letter was a revision of a note I wrote to myself a little over two years ago. I am itching to revise it further, but if I begin that, I may not finish it and it may not get posted. In summation, though, I will say this:

Marriage is no longer the scope through which I view Christ and the Church. The relationship between Christ and His Bride is now the lens through which I view everything else. It never ceases to fascinate me. More on that later, beloved...

October 29, 2008, 23:07

Oh, girl --

Don't try to win him with your charm.
Don't try to put forth something you're not.
It will take more energy than you have to keep up an image of yourself that will eventually crumble.
REST.
Search your heart and see that that is what you really want.
You don't want to have to keep trying to be something you're not.
You are who you are, and you are SO wonderfully and intentionally made.
If you were to search your heart, you would almost definitely find a desire to be loved and accepted and enjoyed and celebrated for who you are -- not for who you can pretend to be.
If all you show is a mask, the mask will get loved.
(But God pours His love on you ceaselessly...)
Again, I say to REST.
Seek the Lord -- not a relationship.
He is the God of relationships, and knows exactly what you need -- and don't need.
Trust Him to do the winning of the hearts -- and do not trust your charm.
"At just the right time..."
Let Him win the hearts -- because He wants all the credit.
This builds up your assurance in His will.
Seek Him now, seek Him then, seek Him until then, and seek Him beyond.
Seek the Lord and LIVE -- abundantly, victoriously, freely.
Trust Him and give Him your whole heart.
He made it.
He knows how it works.
He will wake it up in ways you didn't know could thrive with such life.
He is Life.
And your past?
Whatever it is, you're not beyond healing.
You're not beyond restoration.
Grace always tells another story.
It extends a long way down. It meets us where we are in order to bring us to where we could never otherwise be.
If you receive it, it will tell your story in a whole new way.
No one can love you like the Lord.
No one can see you quite like He does.
No one can fulfill - or even know - your needs like the Lord can.
You want romance? He's the Author of it.
He will guide you to overflowing springs, if you let Him.
Marriage is like Christ and the Church.
And just as Christianity isn't about being good enough, neither is marriage about being good enough.
It's not for what you could earn, but to express and receive a love undeserved.
That's why it's grace.
And it is AMAZING.