abide

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.  God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. I John 4:16

Amy Carmichael on this passage:
"...We can never fully understand that love, but we can begin to understand it even here and now, and as we understand, we trust.  This means that we trust all that the love of God does; all He gives, and all He does not give; all He says, and all He does not say.  To it all we say, by His loving enabling, I trust.  Let us be content with our Lord's will, and tell Him so, and not disappoint Him by wishing for anything He does not give.  The more we understand His love, the more we trust."

I've been thinking about this concept of abiding in God's love lately.  So often, i forget who i am and what He has done...i allow my thoughts to take me to dark places where i believe the lie that i am an orphan...but i do not want to live like an orphan, i want to remember His love, to abide, to trust, and to be thankful and content with what God's hand gives.  the one who is fully loved, as i am in Christ, is free...
   free to take Gospel-risks in relationships, to love others without protecting myself from hurt and rejection...because no amount of rejection can diminish God's love for me
   free to be thankful and content with God's provision, even when it makes absolutely no human sense
   free to not compare gifts, lives, appearances....because God fully loves   me and He fully loves others, but His love does not make people identical

Oh Father, grant me grace to be content with You, to remember who I am in Christ, to take my thoughts captive, to be quick to repent