(Sorry about the absence; it's been very hectic in my life with school, but I had some down time and decided to read some chapters and blog).
So chapter 3 is all about God's crazy love. Chan opens the chapter talking about how he had difficulties understanding God's love because of his relationship to his earthly father. I can honestly say, I think I've been surrounded by two of the best examples of God's fatherly love: my dad and my mom's dad. My grandfather is no longer with us, but he left an impression on me that will never be erased. He exemplified what being a responsible father and husband meant. In the same way, my dad has impacted me and continues to impact me even from a distance. I know that I can call on him for something and, if able, he'll do it. This is going off subject, but I've always maintained that if I ever begin dating while in college, or really regardless of when I date, the boy has to get my father's permission first and foremost to date me. It may seem silly or even old-fashioned, but I believe that my father knows who I should and shouldn't be dating. I love the part in Courageous (2011) where the man takes his daughter to dinner, and asks her to entrust him with her heart, and that he will pick "the very best" for her when God shows them the right one. I'm able to entrust my heart to my earthly father, but I often struggle with entrusting my heart to my heavenly Father.
Something that has been plaguing me lately is my devotion to God. I've been struggling with establishing a church home, and I find more excuses to avoid church than you can shake a stick at. Believe me, I want to find a church home, and schoolwork does interfere more often than I want it to. Unfortunately, no church is perfect. I've been praying lately that God would show me in some way where He wants me to go to church. I've found one that I basically like, the only problem with it is the schedule of the college ministry. Chan touches on the subject of "having quiet times out of guilt." This is another area in which I've been asking myself why I'm doing it. My parents bought me Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest", and I've been reading it since November. But, I do little more than read the verse that accompanies the devotional and the devotional itself. It hardly takes me 5 minutes. I never feel like I spend much quality time with God. I was struck by some quotes from the book that apply to this area of life:
"Over time, I realized that when we love God, we naturally run to Him-frequently and zealously. Jesus didn't command that we have a regular time with Him each day."
"This is how God longs for us to respond to His extravagant, unending love: not with a cursory 'quiet time' plagued by guilt, but with true love expressed through our lives."
He isn't saying not to have a quiet time. I believe that what Chan is getting at is that we should want to spend time with God daily because of our love for Him; if you want to get to know a friend you've just met, you have to spend time with them. you want to spend time with that person because you enjoy their company/presence. I think the same thing should apply to our quiet time with God. It isn't required, but it should be desired.
I want to close with this quote from the book, because I think it is so true today:
"The irony is that while God doesn't need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don't really want Him most of the time. He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him-and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by."
