perfect love

June 23, 2006

i went swimming again on wednesday, just before lunch. as i walked to the change room, i glanced through the glass door to the pool. nobody was swimming. i love it when i have the pool to myself. it's my sanctuary. my home away from home. it's my intimate space with God.

i changed, stretched up, rinsed off and walked to the pool from the change room. i pushed open the door and to my surprise, the pool was packed. but, it wasn't so bad. the beauty of it was in two people: a little girl and her father. i love watching how kids interact with their parents. i thought about why that was and i think it has something to do with how it reminds me of how my relationship with the Lord ought to be.

into the pool i went. i tried to subtly watch how they interacted with each other, but it wasn't working very well. every time i reached the end of the pool, i would stop, turn my head and watch them. i decided to swim using different strokes. sometimes it would be a head-up breast stroke or side stroke. ha! now it would just appear that i was simply swimming.

i was delighted to watch the two. this little girl was ecstatic. her little body could not contain all the things she was feeling. screams of joy and glee filled the air. her eyes were constantly locked with her father's. she was constantly smiling. the two danced about the pool, spinning around in sheer joy. how beautiful!

a friend of mine recently went on a silent retreat. as she was sharing with me, there was one thing she experienced that really struck me. she told me that at this retreat, (as it was absent of any noise, distractions, appointments, schedules, TV and phone calls) the Lord revealed to her how much those things dominated and controlled her daily. it was weird for her to simply be with the Lord and rest in that. the peace and silence was almost uncomfortable. stress, worries, busyness, and time constraints were so ingrained in her system, it was almost foreign to live without them. but in the Lord's presense, she found the deepest rest and peace—everything else melted away. everything was light and easy, as Jesus said Himself, in matthew 11:28 [NIV], "come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

i wondered why that was. why in the Lord's presence were all those things removed? as i reflected later about it, a verse came to mind, from 1 john 4:18 [NIV] "perfect love drives out fear." God = perfect love. fear = anything we are afraid of, anxious, worried, apprehensive about. being in the Lord's presence means being in perfect love. being in perfect love drives out fears. driving out fears means fears are no longer with us. when something is driven out, it does not return.

the little girl was so delighted by her father's presence and their interactions, the only thing on her mind was how wonderful their time was. she wasn't anxious, she didn't worry and she certainly wasn't fearful. perfect love drives out fear! God was giving me a beautiful picture of what the verse looked like.

when we go to God with our worries, fear, anxieties, we must lay them down at His feet. we must relinquish our grip on those things and hand them to Him. when we do that, we are free! our fears are driven away. but, if they still linger in our hearts and minds, we are holding on too tightly to them. peter, once a fisherman, writes in 1 peter 5:7 [NIV], "cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you." the key verb in this passage is cast. i think peter uses this word because of his experience as a fisherman. when you cast something, you throw it away/out. it does not return unless you pull it back in.

paul writes in philippians 4:6-7 [NIV], "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." as we present our anxieties to the Lord, His peace will guard us. to guard is to protect. to protect is to shield from harm. do you see it? it's like the peace of the Lord stands in front of us, protecting us, not allowing our anxieties to return. perfect love drives out fear.

oh how i long to be like that little girl. teach me how to trust You more!

Posted by Leo Chan at June 23, 2006 9:26 AM