Today, we are going to take a break from Colossians and talk about something God has been putting on my heart.
All this past week, Keagan and I have been in quarantine after being exposed to COVID (being in nursing school and going to college, it was bound to happen). I was struggling a lot at the beginning of it with feeling completely isolated from the world as life went on without me. I felt lost. Overlooked. Unseen. Useless. In the dark. Disconnected.
God, how am I supposed to love from here?
Some of my closest friends were struggling with really hard and scary things and I was supposed to sit back and watch?
God, what are You doing? I want to be Your hands and feet. How am I to do that locked up in my house?
There were many walks with God this past week. Many tears shed over my frustration of the world and its evil. In my questioning, I am thankful, oh so thankful, He answered.
On one of my walks, I sat down by a river to pray which turned into crying which turned into yelling which eventually led me to John (Sometimes that’s just how life goes. Can I get an “amen?”). The Spirit led me to this verse and instilled in me such awe and wonder.
But Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people…
I first read this as I always have in the past: People are evil; of course, Jesus wouldn’t trust us!
But then a new thought popped into my mind.
Jesus loves us. Why would Jesus love what is evil?
Stick with me here, friends.
What if the reason Jesus didn’t entrust Himself to us is not because we are evil but because we have evil inside us, we are marred with it. The evil doesn’t define us. It affects us. This may seem like a small nuance, but it’s huge! Jesus would not love evil. Therefore, no matter how “evil” or “sinful” you feel, it doesn’t determine who you are because Jesus loves you and He loves what is good.
Okay, so that was just one amazing comfort I found from this verse.
So, Jesus didn’t entrust Himself to man, not because He didn’t love them (Goodness, He died for us!).
Jesus didn’t entrust Himself to man because He knew people, the very ones He loved and would die for, would never satisfy or complete Him like His Father did.
Stop for a minute and take in what this means for us.
Since Jesus did not entrust Himself to others, we shouldn’t either.
Please, hear what I am NOT saying. I am not saying we should never trust one another or don’t need community.
What I am saying is that we should not entrust our worth, approval and identity to one another.
You see, what I was learning, what I think the Spirit was showing me, is that Jesus did not have to, nor did He want to, find His approval, praise, worth, dignity and identity in what others said about Him. In the verse just before this one, people are praising Jesus for the signs that He was doing. Yet in the very next verse, John observes that Jesus didn’t entrust Himself to them.
As much as Jesus loved them, He knew their sinful nature, their brokenness and that they would never be able to fill Him like His Father. He knew that the Father was and is and always will be the One who fills us and satisfies us completely and demonstrated what it looks like to entrust ourselves to the Father and not man.
As I reflected on this passage, I realized just how much I was finding my approval in man and in what I do rather than in God. I see that I often entrust myself to people trying to find acceptance from them or completeness from how I serve. Too often, I am trying to find approval and affirmation from what I do for others and what they say rather than from the only One who’s approval counts: Jesus.
Jesus did not find approval in the work He did or in the praise He received from others. He found approval from the Father simply because He is the Son of God and God delighted in Him for that reason alone.
And now…
we are too.
Because of Jesus, we can completely entrust our lives to God and find our approval in Him. When we truly know who God is, we don’t have to fear wrath because Jesus paid the price. We simply live in Love. And when we find our approval, love, purpose and completeness in God, we are no longer afraid to love others because whether we are accepted or rejected we know the God of Love has fully accepted and approved of us.
Please let that sink in…
The Father loves you.
The Father loves you.
God has accepted and approved of you.
One last thought…
If you are still reading this, thank you and well done! I want to leave you with some “food for thought” as my dad likes to say.
In the midst of this crazy time of COVID, politics, unrest, isolation and quarantine, what if God is trying to get our attention?
COVID hit and for 3 solid months (and in some cases still), we were all isolated, cut off from the world, each other and even the outdoors in some places. Ugh…isolation. It sends shivers down my spine. But, what if that is actually God’s means to wake us up from our sleeping? What if isolation is what reminds us that we can never be isolated from God? What if isolation is what reveals that finding our worth in anything but God is lousy?
I think it is so revealing of our hearts. We long to be with one another and to connect with one another. Quarantining for a week has shown me that! But, do I long to be with God as much as I long to be with His people? Do I long to connect with God as much as I long to connect with His people?
Maybe you are a complete introvert and loved quarantine. That’s fine! But, did you love it because you were alone or because you were alone with God?
These are just some of the interesting observations I have made. Perhaps, we as the Church have forgotten that God calls us into the desert, into seclusion for a reason and it isn’t always bad. He leads us through and back into sweet community, but if it weren’t for times of seclusion with God we would miss out on the deep and intimate moments God has for us in the deserts. Perhaps, this period of forced isolation is a result of rejecting God’s invitation to seclusion with Him.
Whether you are experiencing the sweetness of fellowship or in the depths of isolation, don’t avoid seclusion with your Father in heaven. Remember His sweet promise: “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” He is with you.
There is no quarantine that can isolate us from God. Actually, it is in those moments when we can push deeper into God’s character and discover more of who He is. Don’t waste the times of isolation, friends. God has you there for a reason. He is speaking. Ask Him to help you hear…
Author Spotlight:
Hello! I’m the C to KC & Co! My name is Charity, and I am so excited you are checking out our site and blog. My deepest desire is that God will use the words on this blog to encourage, strengthen and deepen your love for Jesus. Read more of my writing here.
Thank you for allowing us to serve and encourage you today. If this post was an encouragement to you in any way, please let us know and consider sharing this post to encourage someone else.
Featured Photo by Ian Turnell from Pexels