What are you afraid of?

I was listening to Christian Radio on the way home and in the afternoons they sometimes interview Christian artists or authors. This particular day they were interviewing Bethany Hamilton; the surfer from Hawaii that was the survivor of a shark attack in which she lost her arm. Survivor is an understatement as she went on to be national surf champion and is still competitive today. 

There was a movie about her life, she has written a book and continues to surf and speak. It was a very interesting interview and some of the questions were deep and some were just fun type questions. One question or should I say answer to a question just stopped me in my tracks. The question while intended to be playful ended up being very...ah...interesting. 

The question was; “what are you afraid of” and knowing what we know about Bethany you might guess at some of the answers and right away she said this could be a playful question or a very deep question and playfully she was afraid of spiders. Well guess what me too! She then shifted and said that the thing she is most afraid of in the deep bottom of her soul is that she doesn’t love God with her whole heart. 

That just caused such an emotional reaction for me, tears welling up I said to myself “me too!” In Matthew 22:37 Jesus says; “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Wow that is incredible when you think about it. And as broken as I am is this even possible? So as I was contemplating this and the brave answer this young lady gave; this answer that had such an emotional impact on me, dare I say this answer that convicted me; something marvelous occurred to me; that is what is so amazing about grace! We (I) can love God with our whole heart through Christ...Tullian Tchividjian reminds us; “God's love for us does not depend on our love for God. Our love for God depends on God's love for us.” And God is love...

Our God is so amazing – and by His grace we are forgiven of our shortcomings, our inabilities, our sin and they are all wiped clean, erased, forgotten by the finished work of Christ! Amen! Spurgeon once wrote; “I sin like a man, but He forgives like a God.” And I am so thankful! 

Romans 8:1-2 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 

Father, thank your for your amazing Grace...thank you for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and thank you for your Spirit who gives life. Father, we believe, help our unbelief... 

Grace and Peace!