Plumage of Love

 

 “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love?”  (Job 39:13)

I am reminded by this of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, that if we have not love, we are like a clanging cymbal.  We can have incredible prophetic powers about if we fail to love, we are nothing.     Here he is saying that love is the measure of effectiveness.  How effective and successful a person should be measured by how well they love.   Jesus tells us that love fulfills the commandments. 

Ironic our dogs and cats know so instinctually what it takes an entire lifetime for us to learn – love matters.   How we love others makes an incredible difference not only in their lives but our lives.  If we are wealthy and have incredible status, we gain nothing if we spend it all on ourselves and for ourselves. 

Paul paints a picture of what this love looks like in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.”

Paul tells us to pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that we prophesy.  We are to desire to prophesy over speaking in tongues because it builds other up, encouraging and consoling them.  While one who speaks in tongues is only building up themselves.  Prophecy is a gift that was given to build up the church.  (1 Corinthians 14:1-14).

It is for love that God placed us in families and the first some years of our lives we are incapable of work and efficiency.  We learn dependence upon love and trust.   Families are where we learn to work out our differences and grow in love.   We learn to forgive, give, and humbly serve each other. 

Esau and Jacob are an example of this.  Due to brotherly rivalry and selfishness there grew to be so much hate in their relationship that Esau swore to kill Jacob.   Jacob had to leave and run for his life.   Yet in this place of venturing out, God blessed Jacob and he had an opportunity to forge a family of his own.  

The same sort of selfishness and tit for tat played out between Jacob and his uncle Laban.  There was a deceiving of each other and priority on getting one up.  But instead of being in the winning position, here his uncle had all the power and Jacob was in the losing position.   Jacob worked for the love of his life for seven years to end up with her sister.  And his wages were constantly changed as he was serving him the next seven years for her. 

As Jacob was called back to the Promised Land by God and moved towards Esau once more, He wrestled with God for a blessing.  His whole life he had swindled for his blessings and here he asks God directly for it and ends up blessed while his leg is out of socket. 

Could walking with a limp have been the blessing that Jacob needed?  It put him in a position of weakness and dependence upon God rather than self-sufficiency.    But even after wrestling with God, Jacob still sought some sense of control in his fear when facing difficulty. 

Jacob divides his children among his wives and female servants and sends them out ahead of him in the order that he cared for them.  The servants were out front with their children, then Leah and her children, finally to Rachel and Joseph themselves together.   In this, Jacob failed to love his family well.   He favors Rachel and makes his children born by others know that they were not loved the same.  As a protective father, he does not even walk ahead of them but perhaps sees them as dispensable in some way. 

Then as they settled, Jacob continues to favor Rachel’s sons.  One of those sons, Joseph, also treated his brothers like they were less than him.  As a result, the brothers hated Joseph as he would always get them in trouble with Jacob. 

But yet, in this mess, the Lord makes something amazing out of it and truly blesses Jacob.   Joseph, in his pain of being thrown away and sold into slavery by his brothers, has his own limp.   He carries the deep hurt of rejection.   But he does not resent his brothers or hold a grudge.  Or the others who forget about him or treat him wrongly.  Eventually comes into his purpose of saving his entire family line.

As another example, we see with David and the way he treats Tamar when she was raped, that he feels she is dispensable compared to his son.  He fails to protect and defend her.  As a result, Absalom, seething with anger and resentment, kills his brother and eventually steals the kingdom from his father.  

We also see this with David as a child.  He is rejected by his father Jessie and overlooked.  He is not even brought along when the other of Jessie’s sons go to meet Samuel.   Then when he is provided with an opportunity to step up against Goliath, his brothers ridicule him.    

All that to say that there is plenty of room for hurt and brokenness in families. And our attempts to judge situations and be fair is filled with brokenness.   We are not the source of love and our ways are not His ways.   As hard as we try to control and manage situations, we typically fail.   Jesus says to the people in John 8:15, “You judge according to the flesh.”   This is exactly our problem.

It is our brokenness and difficulties that gets us reaching to God.   And in reaching out to God, He answers our prayers. Prayer changes things, especially when joined with our faith and trust in Him.   In the “Daily Moments of Strength Inspiration for Men” (boy mom), the author notes, “When you face overwhelming odds with overcoming faith, you can’t lose.”[1]

As my first pastor wrote, Holy Spirit led prayer is the power of God to birth the new we need out of our difficulty.   It calls into existence.  It creates and forges what you need.  It is your provision when attacked.  It turns and shifts situations for good.   Provision is within us just waiting to be prayed out. [2]

We need to take our position of authority.  Our words count; they have power.  Our words conceive and produce fruitful results.   Our words are potent with promise.   The key is to pray according to His will.  [3] This is our place of blessing.  When we become aligned with the Lord and pray according to His will, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. This is the place of wrestling with God for His blessing… not that He gives us something but aligns us with His will and purposes which opens the door wide for His blessings.

Hebrews 10:19 says, “We have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which He opened for us through the curtain, that is through His flesh.”  My fist pastor wrote about this verse, “We now have no fear to face God in prayer.”     This is the “new and living way” that He opened for us.  We can come boldly into the throne room to receive help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).  [3]

It is in our connection with God from a place of petition that we receive His love and give it away.  This is where, rather than broken cisterns, we become a fountain of living water, loving people freely and genuinely meeting their needs.

Lord, you have blessed us abundantly, above what we could ask or imagine.  You have given us this new and living way of experiencing your abundant blessing through prayer.  You have opened the door for us to come into the throne room in our time of need.  Help us to lean into this new and living way to love others well.

 

 

 

 

1.    1/    The One Year Walk Thru The Bible:  Daily Moments of Strength and Inspiration for Men.  Tyndale Momentum. Carol Stream, Illinois.  2017.

2.     2-3  Seivers, Sue.  Raped by the Devil or Conceived by God: The Power of Prayer. Knowing God Ministries, Minneapolis, MN. 2002.