A lot of imagery ran through my mind today as I was thinking about what love looks like, what "more of God" looks like, what the Kingdom of God on Earth looks like.
Love.
Images of my Mexico trip, when I visited El Pozo de Vida flowed through my mind, especially all the staff who help run the safe house for the trafficked-but-rescued girls. I thought of how some girls try to run away from the safe house. As a staff member, it's like, you love these girls and want to help them, but they don't even always want your help. It's like when you adopt a kid and the kid hates you and says you don't love them. The day by day life is hard. It's not just hard, but it's boring. You need to tell them to drink water, brush their teeth, and all the mundane things.
In summary, love is dirty. Love gets its hands dirty. And love is mundane. Love goes through the mundane with people. And over time, slowly but surely, you see change. Over a long period of time. But even after the girls grow up and are happy and healed and leave the house at age 18, sometimes they still get boyfriends and live in with them after a couple weeks of dating. It makes you wonder if someone can truly ever be whole if they were dealt a bad hand of cards in the beginning. But that's what love looks like. It looks ugly, but it's steadfast and never gives up.
Revival, miracles, Kingdom of God, more of God.
what does that look like?
Our cell group recently read Mark 8-10.
In Mark 8:31 , Mark 9:9, and Mark 10:33, Jesus tells his disciples that He will die on the cross, but all three times, the disciples don't get it. They don't get it because they're still thinking about how they can be the greatest. In Mark 9:34, they're arguing about who is the greatest, and then again in Mark 10:37, two of his disciples are still thinking about how to be the greatest by asking to sit on Jesus' right and left side.
Throughout the gospel of Mark, it just feels like Jesus is telling them the same thing over and over again, and they just don't get it. Jesus is continually trying to change the way they think about things, and He continually explains the Kingdom of God from different angles, using different analogies. But even then, they don't get it.
It's interesting to me that Jesus healed people instantly--like the blind, the lame, the dead, etc. But when it comes to transforming our mindsets and renewing the disciples' mind, it takes so much time. It was easier to teach the disciples how to pray for others for healing, than to get them to understand the Kingdom of God. But Jesus is patient and loving, and explains things over and over again.
that's what love looks like. Sometimes things only take an instant, and we see miracles. People may change instantly if things all of a sudden click for them. They may encounter God and change their ways. Or it can take years and years of renewing your mind.
But that's what love is. Love is patient. Love gets its hands dirty. Love takes time. Love is mundane. Love is a process
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