August 1, 2013
Your life is like a song of love. So much love has been poured into your life—the love of your parents, the love of your brothers and sisters, the love of your friends and loved ones! And of course My love most of all, which is the source of all the love that you receive.
As My Word says, unto whom much has been given, of the same much shall be required.1 What great joy and great release you will find and have in yielding to this song of love, so that I can continue to bring forth in your life and in the lives of others the fruits of all this love that you have received.
The song of love shall continue and reverberate! Waves of love shall lap upon many shores because you have decided to let the song of love continue in your life, and consequently in the lives of many others. Lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Me and this beautiful song of love.2
I have watched you and nurtured you these many years—as a tiny sprig, as a wobbly sapling, and now as a fine tall tree. Therefore spread your branches and let others lodge in them, and learn and benefit from all that you have experienced. Thus I will cause your tree to grow stronger, to bear more fruit, and to flourish.
Be encouraged with My courage. Be inspired with My Spirit. With you it is impossible, but with Me all things are possible.3 You are so beloved! And this song of love that springs forth from your life, as I have promised, shall bring forth much fruit.
If you feel weak and incapable, rejoice in this, for I am the one who fills all things, and without Me, you can do nothing.4
I am the good gardener, the faithful gardener, and I have planted a beautiful, wide, glorious garden of special flowers. In My garden, each flower is different and unique, beautiful to My eyes and special. Each flower is a unique color and a unique size. Each one serves its own purpose and has its own place in the garden and in the heart of the Gardener.
You are each unique to Me. You are each a special flower in My eyes. Each has its own place, and its own purpose and calling. I know all about your gifts, your talents, your battles, your weaknesses, and all the things that bother you about yourself. I know about the nagging problems that you can’t seem to be able to overcome. I know your spiritual strengths and weaknesses, your idiosyncrasies and all the funny things about you that make you an individual.
I know all about your heart’s desires and your secret longings. I know about the times that you compare with others. I know about the times that you think negatively about yourself and you feel bad and you feel that you are not good enough, when your weaknesses bother and embarrass you. I know about all these things and I love you anyway.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.—2 Corinthians 4:75
Let Me fill you with my love, joy, and peace. These are glory-gifts, flowing from my living presence. Though you are an earthen vessel, I designed you to be filled with heavenly contents. Your weakness is not a deterrent to being filled with My Spirit; on the contrary, it provides an opportunity for My power to shine forth more brightly.
As you go through this day, trust Me to provide the strength you need moment by moment. Don’t waste energy wondering whether you are adequate for today’s journey. My Spirit within you is more than sufficient to handle whatever this day may bring. That is the basis for your confidence! In quietness (spending time alone with Me) and confident trust (relying on my sufficiency) is your strength.6,7
My love is manifested to you in many different ways. Every joy and pleasure that you feel in life, every supply of your needs—this is My love for you. Every time one of your loved ones gives you encouragement and affection, this is My love for you.
Every time you go to My Word and you find strength and inspiration to go on, this is My love for you. When you lie down at night and you are tired and weary from your many labors, and you find sweet sleep and refreshment to your body and your spirit, this is My love to you. In your times of relaxation, when you find recreation, enjoyment and laughter, this is My love for you. The times when you pour out your heart to a hungry soul and you are able to give them the answers that they are looking for and lead them to Me, and you experience that thrill of sharing the truth with another human being, this is My love for you.
In every new thing that you learn, and every new experience that you have, in every way that you find satisfaction and joy and challenge and contentment of heart and rest of spirit and comfort to your body—all this is My love to you.
The more that you see My hand in these everyday affairs of your life, and the more you learn to appreciate these blessings I give you and the ways that I manifest Myself to you, you grow to know My love and experience it more deeply.
There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.—Matthew 6:25–34 paraphrased8
Originally published 1997. Adapted and republished August 2013.
Read by Simon Peterson. Music by Michael Dooley
1 Luke 12:48.
2 Proverbs 3:5–6.
3 Luke 18:27.
4 John 15:5.
5 NASB.
6 Isaiah 30:15 NASB.
7 Sarah Young, Jesus Calling (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
8 The Message (MSG).
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