You see what Melissa was about to find out re-inforced the neglect she felt among believers. Everyone would say "being a Christian is the best life you can live!" or "come to Christ and all your troubles will be over".
Hmmmp!! that last one is a lie. Of course Christ looks after His sheep but He also said we will endure hardships. That, my friends, Melly knew right well. Her biggest battle was not one fought with sin, or temptation. Not with the difficulty of giving up friends or bad habits.
Melissa's battle was with acceptance and the battleground was love. She could understand giving it away and did just so. But the unconditional, untempered, undefiled love of God was something she could not understand and often rejected it out of fear, guilt and shame. Things that the very God she was running from wanted to relieve her of.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Battleground Was Love( 1)
Melly always had no choice in her life. She could do nothing contrary to what she was told by others.
"Go get your niece from the daycare! Iron my work clothes for me! Wash the dishes! Bathe the dog!" Endless orders filled the seventeen year old's day. Poor Melly was a mere puppet in the hands of her family, friends and teachers.
She was beautiful though. Not that she noticed, but her five feet one stature, big hazel eyes, plump lips and hourglass figure got her attention that she sometimes never factored in. To Melly, rightfully Melissa, she was nothing more than an invisible girl. Since the age of ten Melly saw herself as an outsider. The village school she attended cemented that mentality through the segregation of students according to academic performance, a seemingly smart move that left Melly in the "B" class and lower her self esteem dramatically. At home, being the youngest meant being the slave, a title Melly accepted with great sadness and much burden. In church, the one place Melissa sought relief, there was neither segregation nor enslavement. There was however, neglect.
Melissa had no friends in the house of the Lord. No one cared that she felt alone. No one was concerned about her family burdens or took notice of the fact that she was unmotivated to do school work anymore. Not the Sunday school teacher, not the pastor. Melly was abandoned by God's people.
One day she mustered up the courage to ask her Sunday school teacher sister Edwards a question during class. The day was beautiful. The sun was radiant almost blinding and it evoked a sense of confidence in her.
"Sister Edwards?" she squeaked out.
"Yes chile" was the reply with a tinge of restrained annoyance.
" I have been feeling a chook in my heart when people talk about Jesus. What dat mean?" She quickly blurted out.
" Dat mean you mus get save. Give your heart to God" an oversimplied answer to the burning in a young child's heart.
Just like the brightness of the sun that day, Melly allowed God's light to shine into her heart. But unfortunately her troubles where just about to start.....
"Go get your niece from the daycare! Iron my work clothes for me! Wash the dishes! Bathe the dog!" Endless orders filled the seventeen year old's day. Poor Melly was a mere puppet in the hands of her family, friends and teachers.
She was beautiful though. Not that she noticed, but her five feet one stature, big hazel eyes, plump lips and hourglass figure got her attention that she sometimes never factored in. To Melly, rightfully Melissa, she was nothing more than an invisible girl. Since the age of ten Melly saw herself as an outsider. The village school she attended cemented that mentality through the segregation of students according to academic performance, a seemingly smart move that left Melly in the "B" class and lower her self esteem dramatically. At home, being the youngest meant being the slave, a title Melly accepted with great sadness and much burden. In church, the one place Melissa sought relief, there was neither segregation nor enslavement. There was however, neglect.
Melissa had no friends in the house of the Lord. No one cared that she felt alone. No one was concerned about her family burdens or took notice of the fact that she was unmotivated to do school work anymore. Not the Sunday school teacher, not the pastor. Melly was abandoned by God's people.
One day she mustered up the courage to ask her Sunday school teacher sister Edwards a question during class. The day was beautiful. The sun was radiant almost blinding and it evoked a sense of confidence in her.
"Sister Edwards?" she squeaked out.
"Yes chile" was the reply with a tinge of restrained annoyance.
" I have been feeling a chook in my heart when people talk about Jesus. What dat mean?" She quickly blurted out.
" Dat mean you mus get save. Give your heart to God" an oversimplied answer to the burning in a young child's heart.
Just like the brightness of the sun that day, Melly allowed God's light to shine into her heart. But unfortunately her troubles where just about to start.....
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