Daily Delight
We all have abilities and gifts in which it seems natural to meet certain needs of others. Practicing our abilities and spiritual gifts for God’s glory is exactly what we should be doing. However, what about the areas that do not feel so natural? Those areas where we should trust that God fills the space between our inability and His call?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀That area for me is extending God’s love to those deemed unlovable by our standards.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Let me invite you into a recent thought regarding the difficulty of loving in hard places:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“God, as I sit here in this coffee shop, I see the man trying to escape the cold but told by the barista that he can’t sleep in here – he looks up to see who is watching as he is once again is rejected. I am severely convicted as my heart is torn but the thought of loving on him scares me. God, as I drove home yesterday I saw that man hallucinating in the middle of the street - the drugs had taken their effect – but I just drove around him like the cars in front of me did. Yet, You gave me an image of whispering into his ear that he is loved.”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀I am revealing this piece of me because I am convicted and aching over it. I have the same concerns as you might – what about my safety? I am not sure I want to expose my kids to such brokenness. I am already stretched so thin in caring for my family how can I give more of myself in an area that I feel so ill-equipped for?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀I have to fight such concerns with the truth of God because, sweet friend, we are called to reveal His love so that others might know the living God. I have to trust that God will equip me when He calls me and that Jesus washed the feet of the undeserving. We are His workmanship created for good works and if I suffer for doing good, I am blessed! When I show love to those deemed unworthy, I am loving Christ Himself!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀I am going to challenge us today to extend love, after seeking God's wisdom, to someone who might seem unlovable.Let’s glorify His Kingdom!
About the Author
Shauni MacLean
Meet Shauni MacLean, a native of Washington State and a wife of nearly nine years to the only guy (besides her dad) who saw a light in her. Shauni and her husband are parents to two little treasures, Lilly and Molly. She is 31 years old, and aside from wife-life, mama-life and writing, she is a registered nurse in the field of pediatrics.
After receiving God’s comfort and revelation through inner trials over the last seven years, Shauni has been led to be uncomfortably vulnerable with her past and current struggles, as well as the Kingdom of God triumph that follows, so that other women can be encouraged. When Shauni writes, she is thinking of the women that need to know that we are all in the same fight that will lead to victory.
You can be encouraged on your journey as a wife and relate with Shauni on her blog.
You can also receive real life inspiration, from good times to hard times, with her on Instagram.