Hope-Filled Christian
Hope-Filled Christian
Embracing God's Unconditional Love: The Power of Surrender and Acceptance
Remember that time when you were so mired in worries, the weight of the world seemed to rest solely on your shoulders? It's a familiar feeling for many of us. But, what if there was a way you could unload these burdens? Well, this episode is a soothing balm to such weary souls. Inspired by Matthew 11:28-30, we're shedding light on the power of surrender, of unburdening ourselves to a higher power. We delve deep into the pitfalls of holding onto stress and the destructive chase for control, reflecting on how our faith can offer us respite.
Have you ever questioned the nature of unconditional love? It's easy to feel undeserving, especially when we're all too aware of our flaws. Yet, there lies the miracle of God's love, it's not contingent on us being perfect. This episode is a heart-warming conversation about embracing this unfathomable love that's always there, even in our darkest days. As we explore the transformative power of God's love, remember this: no matter how broken, bland, or unworthy we think we are, we are cherished unconditionally. This is a comforting reminder that God is always there for us, providing us with strength and solace, even when we don't realize it. Let this episode be your beacon of hope, a reminder of the immeasurable strength found in acceptance and surrender.
Hi and welcome back to this week's episode of HFC. I don't think this one will be a long one because there's a storm going on, but hopefully it'll still be just as meaningful and speak to not only just me, but not only just you, but also myself. So this week's verse comes from Matthew 11. It's Matthew 11, verse 28 through 30. It says Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Speaker 1:This is one of those verses that I always kind of feel like is very, not going to say literal, because your burden could be anything, literally anything. It could be a situation, it could be just maybe a lot of guilt that you're holding, or shame or insecurity, or worry or fear. It could be any of those things. But it's just one of those things so straightforward that I wonder if sometimes we overlook it or if we're just kind of like, yeah, okay, god, thanks for the infill, for the reminder, and we kind of brush past it, and that's not something that we should do with the Word of God. I know personally, a lot of times I'm the kind of mindset that I tend to hold on to things and hold on to things and hold on to things and hold on to things and they get so bad and so bad and so bad until all of a sudden everything's just kind of falling apart, slash, exploding. I've never been someone like, oh, let's make a calm decision. I hold all my stress until I kind of fall apart. And I guess that's what I'm saying not to do. When I read this first, when I read this first, it's like I need a reminder to let go. I need a reminder to know that it's okay to unburden myself, that it's not only okay, it's expected. He doesn't say come to me if you like. It just says come to me. All you who are weary and burdened, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. It's not a questionable thing, it's a stated thing. It's not asking, it's stating. It's saying you will find rest. It's not saying you could find rest, it's not saying you may find rest, it's saying you will find rest and his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
Speaker 1:And sometimes I feel like, for some reason, we hold on to all this stress and all this worry, and I'm not entirely sure why, and I can't speak for yourself, but I think for me it's like it comes back to wanting to feel like I'm in control and instead of bettering myself because I'm quote unquote in control, I'm literally making myself fall apart. I'm making myself struggle to fall asleep, I'm making myself dip into things that are distractions to distract myself from how tired and stressed and frustrated I am, and it becomes that instead of actually resolving any problems or any issues, I'm just distracting myself because I'd like to believe that I'm in control and in so doing, I'm relinquishing all control and just kind of going with whatever is going on, because I'd rather do anything than admit that I have no idea what's going on in this moment. But I like this verse as a reminder that we shouldn't think that way. It's kind of like a reminder that it's okay to not be okay, that we're expected to not be okay, that we're expected to give him our burden, that we're expected to allow him to love us, that we can allow him to take the things that stress us out, that freak us out, the things that we think would be too much for someone to understand, too much for someone to handle, too much for someone to love us through that he's willing to take all of that stuff, he's willing to see through all of it and see us and love us and hold us and watch over us and take care of us. I think that's one of the things that always kind of I don't know what the word is it brings me back, humbles me, I don't know.
Speaker 1:It's a thing that always keeps me like wow, that I spent so much of my life trying to, I guess, understand how people worked and trying to get them to need me, to want me to, I don't know To pallet myself in a way that people would find desirable, whether that meant friends, relationships, jobs, schools and things that I discovered was not everybody's going to like you, not everybody's going to want you, but there's just something so powerful that is overlooked. That is the fact that and I think we shared it at the last one that to God, we're so much more than just a person, than a tool, than something to use and discard, something to better ourselves with or better, himself with, or something much more than oh, let me be friends with him or her because they have access to this, or, yeah, get friendly with that person because they have a lot of money, or because they can help you out a lot, or they can make you feel good or get you access to all kinds of things, or get you in the cool club, or something like that. There's something so I don't even know the word. There's something just so Different Maybe there are no words to describe.
Speaker 1:There's something so different about the idea of having nothing to offer and yet being loved still that I could mess up a thousand times and he would still look at me and want me by his side, that I could be as broken as the most undesirable person in the world and he would still want me. I could be the blandest person in the world and he would still want me. I could have nothing and I do have nothing to offer him, and yet he still desires to love me, to hold me, to watch over me, to take my yoke. He's not looking for anything. He's not talking to me because he needs a favor. He's not befriending me for money or help on a test or help on something like that, or not using a sweet voice because he wants something from me, or talking to me in that condescending way where they're not necessarily asking you for help, they're telling you you're going to help them. He is just unasking in a way, because he does ask things of us, but it's nothing that would hurt us, it's nothing that would make us weaker or something or be difficult, and it's all, just spend time with me.
Speaker 1:It's almost like you're just saying hey, I got that one song stuck in my head. I think it's by Neo they'll let me love you. And I actually like it because it's like let me love you until you learn to love yourself. Let me love you until you. I don't really know how it goes, it's been a while since I listened to it, but now it's stuck in my head. It's almost like except you know, it's not like temporary love, it's just like let me love you because you obviously don't know how to be loved, because this world doesn't show love as much. As you know.
Speaker 1:Media would love the show that people are kind and people are giving. And people are this and they can frame however they like. People in and of themselves are not kind they're not giving. They can be very selfish creatures, they can be very hurtful and abusive people, but it's not until we have God and to be experienced that we can become more, that we can go beyond our base, beyond our nature, and experience a love that's so different than what we see in this world nowadays, and it's only become more and more prevalent as time goes on that people don't necessarily care about you. There are some people who care about you, and I'm not saying that. I'm not trying to be like extremely cynical. I'm just saying I feel like and maybe you're like this too, or maybe I'm just really like messed up in the head. I feel like.
Speaker 1:All my life I always struggled to believe that people could love me and care about me and I would test them and I would test them and I would test them, waiting to see them fail, because I knew eventually I'd find some way to make them fail. And in a similar way, I spent the majority of my life testing God over and over and over, waiting for him to give up, and that's why sometimes I tell people I have a weird relationship with God. In a way, it's like he's the first person who outstubbered me when I was trying to be as stubborn as possible and every time I would do something just like are you ready, are you done? Do you realize that I'm not leaving? Are you ready to be at peace, to be happy? And at a very young age, through school and whatever, just learning that through the world that people only wanted you nearby, if they could get something from you.
Speaker 1:And so I spent most of my life convinced that even God was like that, that he just wanted something from me. He wanted me to do something. That's the only reason you want me, because you have this great plan for me. That's why, because you need me to do something. That's the only reason you want me. If you didn't have this plan for me, then you wouldn't want me. Like, if you didn't need me for that, you wouldn't want me here. And I don't know. It took a lot of time but for me to realize that he doesn't need you for a plan. He doesn't want you just for a plan. He just wants you. He doesn't want you because you have something. He doesn't want you because you're perfect. He doesn't want you because you're ideal. He just wants you.
Speaker 1:That's just a beautiful verse, anyway, as always, ending in prayer. Dear God, thank you for your love, a love that is almost impossible to comprehend, a love that surpasses all of their love and surpasses even the greatest understandings. Thank you for loving us and watching over us and caring for us. Thank you for being different. Thank you for being there to guide us and take our burden. Lord, I pray that you just forgive us of our sins. Lay us not into temptation. In the name of Jesus, amen. Thanks for listening to this week's episode of HFC. I also hope you enjoyed it. I love this verse. I hope you do too, and I hope you realize what it means for you that he is there for you. Whether or not you want Him or need Him or feel like or realize you need Him, he's there for you. Anyway, have a God bless week. Thanks for listening. Bye.