Fling Open the Door

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through US spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.  For WE are the AROMA OF CHRIST to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as COMISSIONED BY GOD, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.”

-2 Corinthians 2:14 – 17

I know most people start a new year with a list of their “New Year’s Resolutions.” It is the number one reason why fitness centers gain more new clients usually in the months of January and February than any other time of the year.  (At least that is what I heard!) 

I, for one, haven’t really been a fan of them….and I hardly ever make any.  It isn’t that I am against the idea of making changes in a new year or evaluating the year past.  But, I am a bit of a perfectionist so unless I am 100% certain I am actually going to follow through with my new goal, I would rather just not even make it!  My husband would totally roll his eyes if he could hear me now.  I am not trying to market my method…it is just been my way.  Of course, thankfully, I do have a lot of drive so I have been able to make changes over the years and improve certain areas of my life.  I guess I just don’t really want a list somewhere staring me in the face! 

This year though was a little bit different for me.  2013 was a hard for us…maybe not hard but definitely challenging.  It required big, heavy doses of faith and a lot of patience… a lot of waiting.  There were moments of much confusion…moments of wanting to “throw in the towel.” 

 

But it was also beautiful.  We learned.  We grew.  We were transformed.  We saw God and experienced firsthand His power and mightiness.  

As I looked towards 2014, though, I was paralyzed for a time with nervousness.  When we experience more of God, we can never stay the same.  When we gulp big delicious tastes of God, we are transformed.  

It is like when Lucy first came back out of the wardrobe in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  Once she stepped back out of the wardrobe after experiencing Narnia, she was not the same. 

And what was her first action once stepping out?

She had to tell her siblings.

“What do you mean, Lu?” asked Peter

“What I said,” answered Lucy.  “It was just after breakfast when I went into the wardrobe, and I’ve been away for hours and hours, and had tea, and all sorts of things have happened.”

“Don’t be silly, Lucy,” said Susan. “We’ve only just come out of that room a moment ago, and you were there then.”

“She’s not being silly at all,” said Peter, “she’s just making up a story for fun, aren’t you Lu? And why shouldn’t she?”

“No Peter, I’m not,” she said. “It’s---it’s a magic wardrobe. There’s a wood inside it, and it’s snowing, there’s a Faun and a Witch and its called Narnia; come and see.”

The others did not know what to think, but Lucy was so excited that they all went back with her into the room. She rushed ahead of them, flung open the door of the wardrobe and cried, “Now! Go in and see for yourselves.”

(Excerpt taken from chapter 2 of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis)

I know it may sound silly but this passage from this wonderfully written children’s book brings tears to my eyes.  That is exactly how I felt coming into 2014 after leaving 2013…like I needed to fling open the door to 2014 and invite everyone in to come and see for themselves!

But how?  How can I invite others in?  How can they see?  How will they know?

And God brought me back to this very blog and its name.  

Fragrant Aroma.

I must be a fragrant aroma.  

But what does that mean?  How can I be a fragrant aroma?  

Love.

Love well.

I must learn to love well.  

By nature I am “a lover not a fighter.” But I think as we get older, and we experience more rejection and hurt, we tend to put up barriers.  Or at least that is what I have done.  I open up, I love, I embrace, I give…but when it is safe…when it is easy…when the cost isn’t great

But, 2014 I want to love with abandon. 

I want to love strong. I want to love deep.  I want to love well.

This means thinking less of me. 

It means giving up more.

There will be sacrifice.

There will be tears.

There will be heart break.

Because if I love with abandon, then I have no concern for the consequences…for the outcome. 

My heart and keeping the pieces all together isn’t my worry.

Now thankfully I have a God that cares deeply for my heart.  So I know it is in good hands.

But, this year, I want to be about love.

Because it is by this that the world may know my God.  

If I don’t love well, how can I ever speak with authority on the Great Love of my God.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love…If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, HE IS A LIAR; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

-1 John 4: 7, 20

Guess what, though? 

This isn’t about just loving well our family and our friends. Of course, we are to love them well…always without question.

But this is bigger than just loving those that belong to us with abandon.

We must love those that are hard to love…those who may not offer back their hand of friendship…those who have no desire or need for our love. 

We must love even when it may hurt.  Even when it may mean heartbreak.  Even when we don’t want to.

Because I am flinging open the door to 2014, and I am saying, “Come in and see!  Come taste of the love and the power and the greatness of my God.”

But this is how they will know I speak truths…

When I love.

Join me, won’t you?

Let 2014 be the year that we stop judging, we stop criticizing, we stop holding back in fear.

Let 2014 be the year that we say “NO MORE” to the barriers and lines and walls that so often separate. 

Lets tear ‘em down friends.

Break them down.

And love.

Love with abandon.