eternal lasting love

"And so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen; for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." -2 Corinthians 4:18

This scripture, I have it memorized, written on a paper duct-taped to the end of my bed, and highlighted in my bible. But lately it seems God is taking that passage of Scripture, and making in come alive before my eyes in a way I haven't seen before.

I'm learning what it means to invest in the unseen. I used to think that in order to do that, one had to give up all the seen things… the phones and tv shows and blogs and nice houses and cute clothes and such. In my mind, keeping you eyes on the unseen meant sacrificing all secular things and pleasures and comforts. But oh, what I am learning is that He doesn't want my sacrifice merely for the sake of sacrifice. He's not interested in my service or my deeds, He doesn't need them. He will use them, and wants to use us, but that's not what He's after. What He's most interested in are the hearts of His people.

I tend to get caught up in the sacrifice, kind of like the people of Isaiah 58 who were so busy focusing all their attention on the religious act of fasting that they completely missed the heart of God. I think that in sacrificing the comforts of America  -a hot shower, space, alone time, tv shows, unlimited, high-speed wifi, and all that loveliness- I was fixing my eyes on the unseen. But my prideful heart gets so caught up looking at what I'm sacrificing that my focus is still on the seen, even after I've been removed from it and think I've given it up.

Invest in the unseen. He whispers it in the quiet of the morning. That doesn't necessarily mean comforts and nice things, though sometimes it does. But I'm beginning to see 2 Corinthians 4:18 in a new light. Invest in people, invest in relationships, invest in love, in compassion, in mercy, in kindness. Spend time focusing on and living in the things that will last, the things that are eternal.

These are the words I wrote in my journal, sitting in my bed-bug-invested bed in the middle of sunny, hot Uganda. Words I know I'll need to read over and over again when I come home in March, and struggle and readjust to life in America. 

"Love," I hear You whisper it over and over again. What is the purpose of my life? Love. I want to know why You have me here in Uganda. Love. What do I do when I go home? Love. What is the point of this life? Love. I want to know what it means to be a Christ-follower. Love. All these questions that race through my mind, and Your answer is constant. "Invest in things eternal. Invest in love." 

Maybe I'm not called to give up every earthly comfort. Maybe I'm not called to be a pastor or overseas missionary or doctor. Maybe I'm not called to give out food and life-saving medicine. Maybe I'm not called to preach the Gospel on the street corners. Maybe… maybe I'm just called to love. And maybe those things, they'll just happen because of Love inhabiting the depths of my very being. 

Maybe there will be seasons where I am called to love in Uganda. And then seasons where I will love in Chicago. And seasons that maybe [I hope] will take me other places to other people. Maybe one day love means giving up my free time to go to coffee with a friend. Maybe another day, love means hugging a baby just a bit tighter. Love might mean buying shoes for a pair of bare, dirty, bleeding feet. Love might mean watching a movie and laughing one day, and the next day love might mean giving up a hot shower to be with a hurting soul. One day love might mean baking cookies for a friend, and the next it might mean donating food to the food pantry. Love will manifest in many different ways in many different places at many different times in many different seasons. But You're teaching me that it's not about sacrifice or following the rules or putting enough 'service time' in at a local church or giving up enough time, and effort, and offering money. Those things may happen out of response to love, but that's not what it's all about. What is all about is loving, wherever you are and whoever you're with. 

Thank You for Love. Fill me with Your love, Lord, that it may overflow into hearts and lives all around.

Love Divine, all love excelling. Joy of heaven, to earth come down. Fix in us Thy humble dwelling. All Thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus, Thou art all compassion. Pure, unbounded love Thou art. Visit us with Thy salvation, enter every trembling heart.