It’s a rare occasion when a Bible verse makes me laugh.  There was that one time in college, when my RA, Kim, pointed out that a king fell out his window and through lattice.  (2 Kings 1:1-2)  How in the world…?  Darn those open-windowed castles! At the time, it was pretty funny.

Today, a verse in Psalms got me laughing.  Psalm 147 is for the brokenhearted, which pretty much describes me today.  Halfway through reading, I stopped at verse 10 to read it again.  Did I see that right?

His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,

but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.

- Psalm 147:10-11 (ESV)

Did it really say God’s pleasure is not in the legs of a man?!  Whew, because my legs are wimpy!  

God’s Pleasure is Not in Our Strength

Maybe the psalmist meant to make me laugh, slowing me down enough to take in the truth of this psalm.  God knows my greatest strength is still plain weakness. He does NOT expect me to do great things for him, with my legs or any other muscle in my body.  He takes pleasure in me because I am his child. That’s what it means to put our hope in him; it is to become a child of God.

The Message makes this point another way. 

Those who fear God get God’s attention;

Who gets God’s attention?  God’s children do.  

But look at how The Voice translates it:

But the Eternal does take pleasure in those who worship Him,
    those who invest hope in His unfailing love.

I love the idea that when we place our hope in God, it is an investment.  Investments, good ones, give us a good return.  When we invest our hope in God, we get his unfailing love in return.  Of course, the only way we ever come to the place where we can put our hope in him is through his grace.  We cannot do it in our own strength.  So, God gives us the grace to love him, then he gives us his unfailing love in return.  Sounds like he’s doing all the work, right?  Exactly.  

Irrational Love

It is embarrassing to be loved like that.  Brennan Manning calls this, “irrational love” and it is.  It makes no sense.  He gives his love and we don’t have to do anything for it.  Nothing. God loves us because he loves us. That’s it. 

Actually, this one-sided love irritates me a little because I can’t explain it.  Even in the lowest, most lonely moments of my current trial I could feel God’s love.  But even when I can’t feel it, I believe he loves me. Frustratingly, I still try to understand it. I want to grasp the “why” behind God’s irrational love and that’s something I can’t figure out.  Why would a perfect God love me despite my many imperfections? Especially now, when I feel the most unworthy of love, with my newest physical challenges making it impossible to do even the simplest loving acts to show him my love, why does he still loves me?  It’s a mystery.  

So, I am approaching another mystery of the living God.  The question is: will I embrace it or will I continue to try to contain it under the guise of understanding.

Embrace the Mystery

Today, I embraced the mystery.  I had a good cry and released the need to understand this spinal cord injury journey. As tears rolled down my cheeks, I let Chris hold me and felt held by God.

God’s presence in my moment of frailty was a sign of his steadfast love.

Some days, my hope in God’s steadfast love is the only thing that gets me through the sadness and struggle of trying to do life in a very weak body.  Thankfully, hope in his steadfast love is enough.

Quick Question: How have you embraced the mystery of God’s love for you? Maybe that’s a struggle for you too. If that’s the case, I want to pray for you. Leave a comment so I can know how.

I love sending my subscribers special goodies and encouragement straight to their inbox. One of those goodies is a list of 12 Verses to Help You Endure. I’d love to send it to you.