My friend Jamie wrote this, and I don’t know that she’ll ever do anything with it other than share it with those closest to her, but I have her permission to use it as a I wish, and I can’t think of a better way to use such an incredible piece of writing besides posting it so that many people can be encouraged by it.

You Say You Search for His Greatness

By Jamie Ellington

 

You say you search for His greatness? His greatness can be found in the vastness of His love. His love is broader than the horizon and deeper than the sea. Just think of the splendor, the majestic beauty that can be found in the horizon and the sea. While they are truly remarkable sights, He wanted something more. He created you in His likeness. You believe a lie if you believe everything about you is wretched. The psalmist said you are fearfully and wonderfully made. God said I knew you in your mothers womb. He made something in you that He desired to fellowship with. As a Father His heart delights in watching that special part grow, as you become the person He saw from the very beginning. He saw all the bad stuff in between but knew what you would become was worth it. He began a good work in you and will see it to completion. He uses the bad for His good. He has to, because we are all bad so thats what He has to work with.

 

His greatness that you seek can be found in the face of a child, in too many ways to name in nature, people healed from sickness, and I could go on with His greatness that can be seen, but those are just fleeting, tangible things. His true greatness, His true splendor, His majestic beauty cannot be seen it can only be felt. That is why it is so hard to recapture what you no longer feel. It seems as though it slips from our grasp as grains of sand. You cannot see true love. It is felt in a place that is not physical. It cannot be photographed to pull out later as proof it existed. Love can certainly be demonstrated but that is only a physical act, not a picture of what is felt by the person doing the act or the person receiving it. There are so many things that cannot be captured or held peace, joy, hope I believe these are felt so deeply, so completely, so real, words are a disservice to them because there are no words for them. Theres no way left to pull them out for viewing. I believe this phenomenon is by Gods design. If we could keep things or moments felt we would not continue to follow Him to the next one. He wants us to experience fresh ones each time, not stale old ones. Each time we feel one that bears the same title it is not the same. Even if it is for the same reason we felt it and we call it the same feeling, it is still not the same. Its intensity grows. It is built on the one before, making it deeper, stronger. Like the servants that were each given money while the king was away. The one who buried his had only that to give back to the king. The other two who wisely invested it had double to give when the king returned.

 

That is how we are to live out the things He lets us feel. Whatever it may be love, peace, hope, mercy, hurt, sufferingwe are to use it for Him so when He returns we can say we have been good stewards of what we felt. We invested them in His kingdom and even the bad feelings did not go to waste. We used them to gain compassion for others, to be less inclined to judge, and to increase our desire to avoid not only feeling like that ourselves but also assuring that we not be the cause of someone else feeling it.

 

Somehow, in a way only God understands, the truly great feelings that seem to slip so quickly away are brought back when we feel them again to join with the new one. The pleasure of them ever increases. In the same way is His love for us. Just like the prodigal son when he says he is no longer worthy of being called son; you never were worthy, but He calls you that anyway. He loves you so much. Psalm 18:16-19 is all good but really let the last verse sink in to every fiber of your being: he rescued me because he delighted in me. When you thank Him and praise Him for rescuing you, He doesnt say, Youre welcome. He says, It was My pleasure. Your past is for Him to work out, your only responsibility is to accept that He will, for His glory. 1 Sam 12:22 says, For the sake of His great name, the Lord will not reject His people. Did you notice why He will not forsake you? For the sake of His great name! The Lord will not reject you, no matter what youve done to your great name. His faithfulness to you is based on His great name.  He is not leaving or accusing.

 

There is no accuser as dreadful as the conscience that dwells in the heart of every human. Our conscience is like an old tape recording of all the terrible things we have done. Every time we get tired or weak it is like we hit play and sit back to hear for the thousandth time why we dont deserve grace. Salvation does not erase the tape; it just gives you the record option, to renew your mind or, in this case, to renew the tape. We must record over the old recording with the Truth of Gods word. He says He loves you, and He does. He says youre forgiven, and you are. He says you dont deserve mercy, and you dont; but He lavishes it on you anyway. He says He has a purpose for you, and He does.  He says you are family and you are, but this one He commands His children to share in because He knows how it makes us feel when we can say you are my brother or sister, and you are!