Touch Continued

We'll continue with my highlights from the book Touch by Pastor Rudy Rasmus. We'll start with Chapter 4, Through His Eyes.

Expectations are premeditated resentments.

Fear is the root of these expectations. We're afraid that person - a family member or a stranger - will crack the shell of safety that we've carefully constructed to protect ourselves.

Until our own fears are cast out by God's great love for us, we'll continue to see every person as a stepping-stone to reaching our own selfish goals or a threat to our safety and significance.

"If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance" (2 Cor. 1:6 NIV). Did you get that? His distress helped him minister more effectively because he could identify with others' sufferings, and the comfort he experienced enabled him to pour out comfort to others who were hurting.

As we experience more of God's unconditional love - especially when we feel most unlovable - we'll be more secure. Then we won't see others as threats, and we'll be able to truly love them.

Truth is the foundation of a caring community. Faith, though, doesn't insulate us from trouble; trust in God gives us strength and insight so that we can handle those troubles instead of being overwhelmed by them.

Those are all excellent thoughts to meditate on. As I read some of them, I went, "Ouch!" And some where, "Ain't that the truth!" I've had seasons of fear and seasons of great peace and faith. If you truly consider how very much God loves us, how very patient He is with us, and why He created us, I think you come up with a formula for not being fearful. What could we possibly be afraid of when God is in control? What could we ever go through that others haven't already gone through and made it through just fine? We have God, omni-everything. What on earth is there to be afraid of?

Have a blessed cloudy Mother's Day!