This Is Why God’s Tough Love Is Never A Bad Thing
You know how our parents punished us in a way that we, as the kids, thought was undeserved? You loved when they paid for your stuff and let your friends come over, but “hate” them when they grounded you for sneaking out of your two-story window or for failing a class. You know what exactly this is?
It is us taking their love for granted. We know they do it because they love us and want to learn a lesson, but that doesn’t matter to us whenever we actually deal with the consequences.
Guess what—this applies to how we take for granted the love that God, our Heavenly father, relentlessly gives us. And yes, this includes His tough love.
Whether we realize it or not— and all of us are or have been guilty at some point— we take blessings we see as positive in large doses. Either like a drug or a medication that we feel we must have to remedy our spiritual well-being. An over-euphoric high we feel is from God’s love while we don’t prepare for the inevitable crash.
When the seasons change and painful realities reveal that those great things were only temporary, our spirit feels as if it is sick. We see God as our “doctor”— our savior— until His remedy involves a regimen rather than a pill with a magical quick fix. It’s like the kid who goes to the doctor wanting that delicious grape cough medicine that heals her sore throat immediately, yet overlooks how relying on medication lessens her immune system. So she gets mad at the doctor for not “treating” her.
With God, it’s asking Him to give us a miracle to prove He’s there for us. When we don’t seem to see it, we get frustrated and sometimes doubtful. “If God really loves me, then why would He do this?”
That phrase shows exactly how we take God’s love for granted. That “high” metaphor referring to His love? That’s actually our human egos falling in love with the visible blessings and not His actual love.
One undeniable truth is that we live in a universe built on both positive and negative forces. Where all good is eventually accompanied with bad. When He loves you, He will ensure that the bad has the best attached like a price tag. Yeah, there may be a diamond that is shattered on the ground, but the substance is still diamond right? Exactly, it still holds significant value even when it’s shattered or not produced into a beautiful necklace. Why can’t we view our hardships and God’s tough love this way? Our hardships become part of our spiritual DNA. They’re beyond valuable.
Sometimes our human egos mentally construct a utopia that we attempt making our realities. We think, “If you’re good, you should get good. If you’re bad, you should get bad.” We literally entitle ourselves to this and expect God to give us what we want….. all because we think that’s what we deserve. But what happens when life, indeed, does not go that way like we originally intended?
“God’s plan” is an overplayed phrase in my opinion, but I don’t deny that God has the power to guide us down a track that is best for us. We operate in a universe of higher power versus free will, so the idea that “God can literally control you” is somewhat exaggerated because we do have a choice to accept and reciprocate His love.
But, our faith is what connects us to His power—that power being His love. What God is worth worshipping if we understood every little thing He does and why it happens? Would He ultimately be this high-and-mighty God if things were up to us? Is there even real beauty to life if it didn’t hold intrigue, mystery, and something out there so much bigger that we strive to know more about and get in touch with each day?
Our God is abundant with love, and this includes His tough love. If God seems to overbear you with hardship, it’s likely because:
1. There is a much larger and critical lesson for you to learn that you’ve ignored.
2. He loves and values you so much that He is trying to prepare you for something larger-than-life waiting at the end of the horizon.
I will say it once and then say it louder for those in the back to hear— God can only take control of the wheel if you willingly let Him. Not when you fight it with your own misguidance or do the natural human thing— go into denial and question what is unknown or not apparent to the average mind.
So I challenge each of you—as bizarre as it sounds—to start saying, “Thank you” when something inconvenient or crappy happens to you. Manifestation is real, and it is only achieved through investing your faith in God and the universe.