Relationships

At Love’s Impulse

One of my all-time favorite hymns is “Take My Life and Let It Be” [affiliate link]. This moving prayer  rightly places our hearts and our lives where they belong – at the altar of sacrifice for our Heavenly Father. It’s a melodic exhortation to recognize that all we have needs to used for Him.

Within the song, there’s a powerful line that reminds us that worship not only occurs in church, but with how we treat others for worship is rightfully proclaiming who God is.  The second verse begins:

Take my hands, and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love.

These words are a startling recognition that our actions towards each other should not begin with our feelings but with the prompting of God.  It’s a hard truth. Because God is love, we must love (See I John 4:9).We want to act in accordance with how each other deserves, not in accordance with the graciousness that the Father has shown us. We want to behave as a response to the actions of another, not as a response as to His actions on the cross.

However, as I’m often reminded, we’re all broken. None of us are without the need of a Savior. And since He sacrificed everything as an act of His love, perhaps we can sacrifice our assessment of another’s deservingness as an act of our love. If not for the other person, for the fact that our Father’s love towards us compels it.

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Hope

Remembering Grace

He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful. – Psalm 111:4

Over the last year, memories have played a crucial role in my life. Memories of my dad have been at the forefront, as I recall the wonderful father and exemplary man of God that he was. However, beyond just these poignant memories have been reminders of how God has worked even in the midst of our sadness. As we faced new trials, it was these memories that propelled us to keep walking forward. It was the recollection of God’s acts of grace – from thanksgiving for our assured salvation to His provision of comfort to the airline ticket we needed at just the last minute – that prompted us to continue to look towards Him even when we thought we couldn’t handle yet another thing. We recalled how He had provided, and trusted that He would provide again.

And while I’m so grateful for these moments that I can look back on, Psalm 111 tells us that even these memories are an act of God’s grace. As the verse states “He [emphasis mine] has caused his wondrous works to be remembered…” It’s easy to think that I’m bringing up these memories, that I’m encouraging myself through looking back on what God has done. But this verse says that this looking back is not from me. These memories, these recollections of graciousness are in themselves an act of love, because they point us back to Him.

What a precious and loving God we serve, that He not only provides His grace, but He causes us to recall His provision, and trust anew in Him.

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