Opening my heart to God's kindness all around me

Earlier this week I had a day when three people were unexpectedly kind to me. Unexpected because I did not know them:

·        a doctor was very nice to me when I had to confess I’d given some medicine meant for my daughter to my son;

·        an Asda worker gave me a lower price on an item because of the deep sigh I gave when she checked the price and it wasn’t in the sale when I'd hoped it was

·        a Homebase worker sold me a box at a lower price because they didn’t have quite the one I wanted.

In each case I was surprised because I didn't expect them to be kind. (Maybe I looked harassed enough as I tried to keep an eye on where my four year old was while I waited in the queues.)

God whispered, "Why are you so surprised by kindness? This is my kindness, I've put it everywhere."

God is kind. It is his nature. God is love and love is kind.

Kindness is his fingerprints all over this world. It got me thinking of some verses that speak of His kindness (many thanks to Biblegateway.com for making it SO easy to find verses that mention kindness!)

His kindness is found in the sunrise: 

'For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.' Matt 5:45

His kindness is found in the seasons that result in the harvests that give us our necessary food:

‘He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.’ Acts 14:7

His kindness is not dependent on my gratitude or performance. Just think about the Israelites:

 ‘When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.’ Psalm 106:7

And when I think God can’t possibly ‘put up with’ my weakness, failure and sin any longer, I am reminded of his patience:

‘For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.’ Nehemiah 9:21

Despite their lack of faith, turning to other gods, and repeated stubbornness, God daily provided their food, water, direction, health and clothing even during those times they were rejecting Him.

God’s kindness is found all around me, even in the kindness of those who do not acknowledge Him. 

‘Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law . . .they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts.’ Romans 2:14-15

Echoes and glimpses of God's kindness are to be found in the hearts of all men.

God loves kindness. He loves to show kindness. He cannot stop being kind, because it is part of his character:

 ‘but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.’ Jeremiah 9:24

And I realised, God loves it when we show kindness. It pleases him. It is not a little thing. It counts. It is important. It is his kingdom coming here on earth.

Sometimes I think a little act of kindness can't be 'important'.   But when I show kindness to someone it delights His heart because it's a bit of me being like my Papa. 

I can't drum up this kindness out of my own sheer effort.  It is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) and comes out of abiding in Him (John 15:4-5).

Kindness hasn't come out of me spending my time measuring up how well (or rubbish) I'm doing. Rather as my eyes and heart have been opened to God's kindness to me, then kindness to others has welled up in my heart and just wants to spill out. I've found myself looking for and delighting in ways to show kindness, feeling the joy that I'm bringing Papa God pleasure as I do it in response to His kindness to me.

Thank you Father for your incredible kindness to me and to every son and daughter on this planet. Thank you for the joy of joining You in showing your kindness to others. Amen

Love is kind

'If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. ⁴ Love is patient and kind.' 1 Corinthians 13 v 1 – 4

I used to find this passage challenging and discouraging. I didn't understand why people talked about it as the 'great' chapter on love. I saw it as a list of all the ways I failed to match up to God's standard.  

The first three verses indicate that I can be doing really well and working really hard for God - even giving away all my money and possessions and becoming a martyr - and yet it can still all count for nothing if I don't get the love bit right. 

I was reading this passage recently and got as far as 'Love is patient and kind' and stopped and closed my Bible. My prayer was something along the lines of "God I can't take any more. I can't read the rest of this passage. I have lost my temper with the children so much. I can't even manage 'patient and kind' let alone the rest of the list.  Please help me be patient and kind today. Can you just let me work on those two today?"

Then God spoke to me so tenderly, "This is a description of my love for you. I am kind to you. I am patient with you.  Will you be kind to yourself and patient with yourself? Let yourself receive my love, believe in my kindness to you and my patience with you.  When you truly grasp how much and how well I love you and let it fill your heart, then this kind of love, my love will flow out from you. You won't have to drum it up with loads of effort, it will be your natural response."

Wow, what encouragement and freedom to now love this passage. I can now read it as an incredible description of how I am loved by my Heavenly Father. He doesn't want me to be so hard on myself. He doesn't expect me to be able to love like that out of my own resources. He desires to fill my heart with his inexhaustible love and to see me dance for joy in His presence because I'm so loved. 

Thank you Father for helping me see this passage with new eyes. Thank you for your incredible love. May I keep growing in grasping how fully I am loved and may Your love pour out through me to help others know your love. Amen.

A season to blog

Why have I started this blog?  Because God is so good and I feel like I'm re-discovering how good the gospel is.  I want to share the good things I'm learning because I want to encourage and help others. 

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" Ecclesiastes 3 v 1

In December the word 'seasons' kept jumping out at me in my Bible reading and in other things I read.  Also the word 'rest' seemed to be highlighted. I felt God was speaking to me about a season for rest and for spending time just being with him.  

Although it felt pretty scary to do, I am taking a two month break from as many things as I can (i.e. I have not stopped doing the washing or picking the kids up from school but I am not leading Sunday school or any other groups). The book The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeurst really helped me with saying 'no' to these things in order to pursue the best that God has for me in this season. 

Anyway, this has really helped me have head space to examine the things I think, believe and the way I act. I have realised how much I live burdened down by guilt, fear, insecurity and depression. And that doesn't match up with the good news of the gospel. God wants me to live loved, joyful, free and secure.

I have spent many years with a very negative soundtrack in my head of criticism which I even thought was the right Christian thing to do: that humility meant thinking I was rubbish.  Becoming a mum just intensified my daily sense of failure.  I realise I'm probably not alone in feeling this way.

I am on a journey of learning to replace that soundtrack with words that God speaks over me. I'd like to share some more about that in some other posts.

Father God, thank you for loving me exactly as I am - even in and through my failure, weakness and sin. Your love is immense and unstoppable. You know the worst about me past, present and future but You choose to love me and there's nothing I can do I about it!

Thank you for your great kindness and patience with me. By your grace, may this blog be a channel of your hope and healing to those who read it.

Thank you that the power for transformation is entirely yours and does not depend on us. All the glory goes to You. Amen.