An Open Letter To Marion (and All Who Struggle Spiritually)

Marion is a new reader who contacted us with an outpouring of heart and soul. Sadly, I have no way to contact Marion and respond personally. After praying about the situation, I felt led to write this post to Marion and to all those children of the Most High who feel buried, overwhelmed with their struggles. Perhaps you are struggling in the same areas as Marion. Perhaps my reply will bring you comfort, hope, joy, and encouragement as well. I pray that it does.

Dear Child of God, You Are Precious

Marion, thank you for trusting me with your struggles. I heard you, and God heard you. It is critical that you know that. God hears you, Marion! Seeking peace, joy, understanding, and a place to fit in has never, not once, been in vain. God has not ignored or disregarded you. He does not see you as insignificant, unworthy of his time and attention. He does not think you wasted the past 40+ years because you have continued to struggle.

You are precious to God with a love we can't even begin to fathom. We think Jesus loves like we love. He does not. As much as we try to do better and be more like Jesus, our love is corrupted by the perpective of our fleshly desires.

But the love of Jesus is pure, right, and true. Jesus is holy and all-giving. He withholds no good thing from us. He is our good thing! As His child, He will never withhold himself from you. There is not an ounce of selfishness or pride in Him. He hears your thoughts and words, sees everything you do, and knows all that you will do. And he loves you, He adores you, despite it all! You think you aren't worthy to receive but Jesus has already paid the full price for your soul because HE LOVES YOU beyond comprehension!

Struggles Have Hidden Blessings

You mentioned that you have tried so hard to do all the "right things" and still struggled, even since your salvation. Doing all the "right things" in the sight of man is works. God isn't looking for your works. He wants your whole heart.

I want you to know that struggles are normal! It is a part of how God grows and matures us. Trials and tribulations are not a sign that you have done anything wrong, that you are not really saved, or that God doesn't love you.

Throughout the Bible we see people struggling. We see it all around us today. We can see how God uses the struggles to build up and tear down (strongholds, false idols, and wrong ideas). We see countless times in the New Testament (such as in the book of James) how to deal with the trials and battles we go through. God knew we would need to know how to walk out our struggles because we would all have them...every single one of us. None are immune, some just hide their struggle better.

Marion, you don't have to work for God's love, attention, or blessing. You already have them in abundance. From the moment you were conceived, you had His heart. From the moment you opened your heart to Jesus 40+ years ago, you had His covering over your life, His grace wrapped around you.

Along with Jesus, you received the blessings of Father God and the Holy Spirit. They are a package deal; you do not receive one without the others.

Your Heart is His Desire

There is nothing you can do to make God love you more, bless you more, or use you more. He does all those things because of his love for you. He cannot love you more than He does at this very moment and you can't kill his love for you. I know this because it is the message or meaning of the entire Bible.

The enemy of your soul has worked hard to convince you the lies you believe are true. They are not. Satan's power is in convincing you that God thinks you are so unworthy that your life is meaningless. Satan, like sin, is a liar and never to be trusted.

God says you are so worthy and loved that Jesus knew before you were conceived that He would die so that you could live. God says He created you, formed you, redeemed you, and called you by name. He knows you intimately. It breaks God's heart that you don't think you or your love is enough.

You say you have nothing to give Jesus...but you do! The one thing God wants that you can freely give Him is yourself; heart, mind, and soul. Withhold nothing of yourself from Him. He already knows about your weaknesses and He loves you anyway! Why? Because that is who He is; pure love.

Jesus is The Word of Life

I urge you to turn to Jesus, Marion. Get to know Him in the pages of Scripture by reading the letters in red (in the Gospels). We all read Scripture with the goggles of our denomination. Sometimes we get an accurate picture, sometimes we do not. You must pray for God to reveal himself as you get into your Bible. Pray to meet Jesus face-to-face.

Don't try to force things. Allow Jesus to reveal himself to you as He sees fit. Your faith will grow as you feed your spirit Living Water and The Bread of Life. Scripture is your spiritual food. You cannot survive (let alone grow) without a steady diet of it. The word of God is alive, active, and powerful. It will adjust your thinking and change you forever.

Your praise and worship will come as you get to know Jesus more intimately. They will bubble up and burst out as the Holy Spirit pours into your spirit. So don't worry about doing anything else right now. Just focus on resting in God's presence.

100% of Jesus 100% of The Time

You said you have been in church for years, but that you don't read Scripture because you can't understand it. Please spend time seeking to know Jesus. I can't stress that enough. I promise you WILL find him 100% of the time. Jesus says that if you seek Him you will find Him. God cannot lie so we can take that as complete truth.

We pray you have felt the power of God's love for you through my bumbling efforts. We pray that you would bow your knee to Jesus Christ, that He would grant you strength with might through His Spirit in your inner man, that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith.

We pray that you will be rooted and grounded in God's love and that you may begin to comprehend the width, length, depth, and height of the love Christ has for you. We pray that you will realize that His love for you surpasses all human understanding and knowledge and that you will be filled with all the fullness of our glorious God.

Again, thank you for sharing your struggles with us, Marion! You will be in our prayers.

Love in Christ,

Mike and Melissa Davisson/Cups to Crowns