The Power of Love

Love is. A short statement, to some it may seem like an incomplete statement - seemingly missing a key adjective to describe it. Rather than delve into various descriptions of love, take a moment to allow Love to embrace you. No, not as a verb or action, but perehps a bit more like an individual though not quite a living being, something you recognize as being utterly powerful and capable of enveloping life itself. God spoke to Moses, Moses asked "Who shall i say has sent me?", God replied "I AM". True, God is an individual, but God also says He IS Love. I AM.. Love IS.. OK, my goal here is not to get too abstract or to confuse anyone, but have you grapple with Love and how it envelopes us, or at least should envelop us. Today as a met with a few men for our regular morning prayer, one fellow shared how he's lost the joy of life somewhere along the way. He shared how his business, which once brought joy (and profits which he donated for the completion of the church organ) has stagnated into a tiresome and mundane activity. He also expressed sadness that the wonderful organ which his work and donations -driven by the power of Love helped complete, is finding less use as time goes on. I can relate to his sense of disapointment, as I was in a similar place over 20 years ago. Love birthed a vision to establish a youth center where young people could find a place a refuge, support and help -something I lacked in my youth as i struggled under the domestic abuse in our home. I didn't want any kid to suffer what i went through -finding no understanding or support -even within the church. Love created the vision, and the vision was a powerful driving force to bring the first youth center to life (planned where several). Of course there was opposition, there were many who failed to understand not only the vision, but the powerful Love which underlied it. Over time I became tired and weary of the relational and financial setbacks, the lack of understanding and support, and what many including myself might describe as a personal "burn out". The initially popular youth center ended up being shut down less than 4 years after its birth. Not only did the vision take a huge blow, but sapped its underlying love and joy. For years it was hard for me to walk by the building which housed the youth center. The passion to build or do anything similar again was gone. My head wanted to and said i could, but my heart no longer engaged. The pain of disappointment had sapped Love's power from within me. Scripture tells us to guard our hearts above all else. I mentioned "burn out" earlier, but what exactly causes it? Why is it that some people of vision rise above setbacks and obsticals while others -despite good intentions and great efforts, fail to. Disappointment is a powerful force. My disappointment's not so much in the failure of the youth center, but in failure of others to engage and support a vision birthed by Love. It's actually heartbreaking. Perhaps here is the key to whether we "burn out" or not. We endure much more when we're surounded by people who share the passion, vision and Love -especially after we have invested and poured out all we have. So to my friend who's heart is being broken by the empty organ seat, I hear you. Instead of great sadness, our hearts would experience joy if only others would continue to carry these visions forward through the power of Love. Love IS Love.