When Love Is Not Enough

Does this look like the face of a rebellious teen? Over a hundred eighty days a year, I share my home with this rebellious teen. She was not always rebellious. For years, some of the happiest memories of our lives were about the good times we shared together. Now the memories we share are mainly about the conflicts we get into. She has not figured out that the best way not to hear me repeating myself is for her to do what I have asked after the fourth time, or third time, or second time, or first time. Keep in mind that the anger of her rebellious spirit fires upon the enemy (me), or source of repeated instructions without realizing that the enemy has an arsenal of anger that, without the "love" safety, would obliterate her rebellious spirit in its entirety.

So many times like these, I have thought about my relationship with God. I think about all the acts of rebellion I committed against His instructions. I acknowledge all the many more that I cannot recall. I usually ask His forgiveness afresh and thank Him again for His grace and mercy and for all of His patience. God sent Jesus to die for my rebellious spirit. God's love for me kept Him from obliterating me while I was in a state of rebellion against His will. His love lifted me out of the state I was in, and I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Remembering God's mercy helps me to count my experiences with enduring my rebellious teen, joy.

When my love for my rebellious teen, with its human limitations, appears not to be enough, I do what I am supposed to do, and I say what I am supposed to say to keep her on a path of righteousness. More importantly, I pray for her to the God who created her. I am counting on Him to deliver her from the evil that jeopardizes her body and soul. My faith is in Him. I trust that He will do all that I am unable to do even though I love her. When my love is not enough, I turn to my faith in God, who is love.

How frightening to think of those who reject the love of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! There is no other to turn to when the love of God is not enough. Hebrews 2:3 inquires, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation...?" My experiences with my teen, reminds me of God's love and experiences with me. Therefore, I have learned to count them...Joy!