Just As I Am

It was Eugene Boylan's book, This Tremendous Lover, that first convinced me of God's unconditional love for me. God loves me just as I am. I thought that I had to be good, obey the rules, to be loved. Be bad or wrong, and there were consequences from God.

There are consequences for this unconditional love of God for me. I am expected then to accept and love others just as they are, with all their faults, real or imagined by me. Next, I am expected to accept things as they happen in my life. Oh, we are quick to note certain things that should not be accepted, but in reality we use these things to justify accepting nothing in our life that displeases our self-will, our wants and desires. I trust that God will help me to know the difference.

A lot of what happens in my life that I do not like may in fact be God's will for me. For instance, at times people very much need me to do some task. There is no one else around at the time. I may feel important and needed. At that moment, I am. But things change. In time I may be much less needed in those places and situations that formerly so much needed my help. I can whine as to how ungrateful people are , how fickle they are. That gets me nowhere.

Rather see in these changed circumstances God's will at work. Abandon myself to God. Surrender my self-importance. Be nothing and wait on God. Remember, God loves me just as I am, with no important work to do, with no one really needing me.