Tough Love

Sometimes love is tough.

We all appreciate the warm, sparkling form of love, that makes us feel good all the way through. We enjoy it's light-hearted side and the feeling of togetherness that is created when people truly care for each other. All of us like the Thanksgiving-Christmas-Valentine love.

But there is a time to put away the gingersnap cookies and have hard conversations instead. And sometimes hard conversations lead to hard decisions.

It is love just the same.

I often wonder, as I trace the story of humanity through its infant years, how God was able to carry out the exact opposite of his deepest desires in order to reach us.

He wanted to spend time with Adam and Eve in a garden he had given to them as the ultimate wedding gift. But instead he chose, for their best interest, to exile them and banish them from his presence.

He wanted the earth to retain its original beauty as it had been when he first called it into existence. But for the sake of future generations he brought about a cataclysmic flood.

He wanted everyone to speak one language and continue together as a true united nations. But to prevent rebellion and perversion of righteousness God was forced to scatter the families of the world to its four corners.

God loved and so he made hard decisions. And in each of our lives to this day, God sometimes brings us to a hard place because he loves us.

I know, I know. When God exercises tough love we are tempted to lift our clenched hand to heaven and demand for our rights. We argue that "if God was truly love...." and surely "God just wants us to be happy..." Truth is, God does want us to be happy, but he wants it so much that he won't pander to our immediate needs and desires if he knows it is ultimately against our best interest.

God is love, and love can be tough. But how grateful I am for his tough love right when I need it most!