2:97 – Ugh is the Word Of The Day

#faithbites #faithjourney UGH

To quote an old theme song, “You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have The Facts of life, the facts of life”. Are you singing it?

Today, rather this weekend, was very much like that. Kids not listening, too much to do, interrupted sleep, and everything just not going according to plan. It’s one of those weekends if I heard one more “Daddy….”, I might just lose it. It’s not one thing, but all the little things added up.

We all get those days. But today, during worship, we sang a new song “Reckless Love” by Cory Asbury. This song is about God loving us so much it is reckless or absurd It’s love beyond all comprehension and beyond everything we deserve. Here is a snip it of it:

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

The 99 refer to God leaving the 99 sheep to hunt down and find the one that got away. On days like today, when I’m so angry, upset, frustrated, have a screaming child next to me because I wouldn’t give her oreos after she already had ice cream, when I just want to yell and scream UGH as loud as I can, I wonder if God is going to find me. If he will fight for me?

Scripture

• “For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory. ” – Deuteronomy 20:4
• “I will go before you and make the crooked paths straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron.” – Isaiah 45:2
• “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. – Matthew 18:12-14

Reflection

Many days, I feel like that one sheep. Not connected to anyone, not important to anyone except to get stuff done. It’s like Shrek, where the fairy tale creatures had nothing to do with him until they needed him to get Lord Farquaad out of the land so they could go home. I especially feel like this when my anger gets the better of me or when I just want to say “expletive deleted”

The thing is, even then, even at my angriest or most frustrated, God is still coming after me. He knows the 99 are safe. He is rejoiced to find me, to heal me and to help me feel right. Remember as we see in Isaiah, he makes the crooked paths straight and fights the battles ahead of me.

The hardest part of this is not God’s love as it is reckless and absurd. We can’t comprehend how much he loves us no matter what. The hard part is to accept his love. To know that we are sinners, and he understands that. He gave his son to bridge that gap. We just need to believe and say Thank You Lord.

As I have been writing this, I feel a bit better. Not perfect, but I know that no matter how far I roam, God wants his flock whole and will find me and love me.

Charge

Do you feel like one of the lost sheep? Do have days when you wonder if God’s reckless love is for you? The easy answer is yes it is. The hard answer is you need to forgive yourself and accept it as he already has. Take a minute to look into your heart and pray hard to the Lord. He is listening.

Prayer

Lord, grant us the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. When we just want to say UGH, show us how reckless and absurd you love it. Remind us that you will always love us no matter what we do. Be with us through all of our struggles, in your name, Amen.