Rain, time change and spring break are a lethal triple dose of doom for a Sunday.  Today we got all of these things yet lived to tell about it.  Arks were needed just to get to the church building with the storms overhead.  Spring break means more than a few people are on their way to vacation spots from the mountains to the beach.  Time change is bad enough when you lose an hour of sleep.  All it was today was icing on a very bad recipe.  But let me just say how proud and grateful I am for those who made it.  You are appreciated.  You also got to hear my favorite daughter play and sing with her two best friends.  Just having that makes for a happy dad.  It's one thing to encourage her to spread her wings.  It's another thing to want those wings to bring her home on occasion.


Letting go is still a daily conflict for me.  Being over protective is a big temptation.  Human beings do tend to dwell on controlling one another in relationships.  Some times this control is benign manipulation that does little harm.  It is however possible to get caught in a trap of serious control.  Danger arises when one person seeks to dominate another into a position of weakness.  Words are a huge tool in this event.  Vocal insults or deception tend to be the chief weapon of those who want this level of control.  We learned a big lie when we were young.  Someone told us how words could never hurt us.  Words do hurt.  They also have the capacity to open wounds only God can heal.  Letting go is not easy for sinful humanity.  Grace is required to allow freedom to grow.


Maybe we miss that idea when we think about the cross?  God takes the risk of unveiling His love toward humanity with no promise we will love Him back.  It dawned on me this past week that the cross is certainly nothing we would imagine when it comes to God.  Every other religion of philosophy born of our mind will be centered on self.  God is the only one who remotely conceives of this approach to living.  He comes into our world through Jesus to declare genuine love and mercy.  Rather than wait for us to reach His level the invitation is extended for us to trust His grace.  Paul understood this as his life would be eternally altered by the grace of God.  His is a first hand experience at letting go of his ideas to accept the truth of the cross.  Going from murderer to missionary takes an enormous divine action.  He gets that when his heart sees God through the cross.  


God does not control us in the sense that He manipulates us.  His will is to keep revealing truth so we adjust to Him.  Understanding the cross means gaining perspective on how far God is willing to go to save us.  His arms stand wide open to us.  It is a risk He chooses to take.  How well are we doing in taking Him up on that offer?


Bro. Trey