Who addresses the Bitterness of the Valley of Tears? Us or God?
God and the children of Adam and Eve agree that the problem is the bitterness of the Valley of Tears. The disagreement is over the solution. We want God to do the work. God wants us to do the work. We want God to eliminate the bitterness from us or remove us from the bitterness. God wants us to dilute the bitterness of the Valley of Tears with love as sugar cubes dilute the bitterness of a cup of bad coffee. There is a difference in opinions. His prevails.
We are not on the same page as God
God's perception of the nature of our dire predicament in the Valley of Tears is different than our perception of it. So God's solution is different than our solution.
To us, our dire predicament is the army of hostile crosses that besiege us as we pass through the Valley of Tears including the worst and the last of our crosses,death .
To God, our dire predicament is not our circumstances but ourselves. Our hearts are empty of love. We live our lives on the level of the most miserable and hideous of loveless beast and not on the level of our loving God - in the dank, dark and hostile basement of the kingdom of God and not in its sunny and hospitable penthouse. Without hearts filled to the brim with love, we are zombies - dead men walking.
He sees that we are dead trees hollow to our cores that form a vast, ghastly and petrified forest in the gray, sterile and dusty landscape of the Valley of Tears. God wants to bring the dead to life . He wants to plant and cultivate the gardens of the new Eden here and now in the Valley of Tears. In the gardens of the new Eden grow the vibrant trees whose trunks, branches and leaves flow with love in abundance . Love is the sap of life
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From his heart, our hearts receive a transfusion of love. The transfusion of love is invigorating. It vivifies us. It brings the dead to life .
Our prayers, therefore, are different than God's prayers .
We pray for the elimination of the army of hostile crosses or for immediate extraction from the battlefield. We want a helicoper God who swoops in to rescue us at the slightest hint of trouble . God, however, is not on the same page as us. God has a different agenda. God doesn't baby us. God wants us to put on our big boy pants. He wants us to apply love to our problems. God wants us to dilute the sourness of the Valley of Tears with the sweetness of love in the same manner that sugar cubes dilute the bitterness of a bad cup of coffee. He wants us to become loving trees in the gardens of the new Eden. He hung from his Cross to show us how we ought to hang from our crosses. He clung to his love for us, held tight and refused to let go. Therefore, when you hang as Jesus hung, cling as Jesus clung, love as Jesus loved. Hold tight and refuse to let go of love, sufferings invincible foe.
God wants us to deny ourselves, pick up and carry our crosses . Only love gives us the strength to perform this superhuman feat .
There is a difference in opinions. His prevails.
