Soul Food: “Outside the Hedge” by Leah Cusker
“A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
John 13:34 (NIV)
I’ve been thinking a lot about love lately. Thinking is one of the things I do best, because I am introspective by nature. I’m often described as quiet, reflective, sensitive, and shy — and I am all these things. Our culture doesn’t always celebrate these qualities, but I have learned over the years to delight in how I am created, because I know that God made me the way I am, on purpose, for His purpose. He made my rare and precious reflective brothers and sisters on purpose, too. If you are one of them, this is written especially for you.
Not everyone is created to be a “people person.” I know that I am not! Although I love my family and friends dearly, I am easily overwhelmed by people, and I need a lot of solitude to compensate for the ordinary interactions of daily life. I also seem to need a lot of dirt! I love to dig big holes just as much today as I did when I was five years old, which means that my happiest, most comfortable hours are those I spend alone in my garden, tucked away in a back corner of my yard, separated from the world by a fence and a gigantic hedge. It’s quiet there, and the plants don’t talk back. It’s safe. The only things that hurt are the thorns on the roses, and those hurts don’t endure. If I could, I would live there forever, alone among the flowers, but I can’t. I’m planted in this world for a purpose, just like you. Although some of us may love nothing better than to be alone, God’s Word makes clear that he didn’t make us to live alone. He made us to live with Him forever, and with one another here on earth.
This truth is very difficult for me, because I know from long experience that God doesn’t love me from behind a hedge. God isn’t merely neighborly; unlike me, He doesn’t just wave politely over the fence to people before turning back to his work. His people — including me — ARE His work, and He loves us with a wild abandon. He opens His heart to us and pours out His mercy and grace. He risks rejection and heartbreak to reach out to us, not just once or twice, but over and over and over, as long as we draw breath on this earth. If I am to love others as He has loved me, being polite and neighborly will not be enough. If I am to love others as He has loved me, I may have to risk rejection and heartbreak, too. I may have to prune my heart-hedge back, or I may have to dig it up altogether! For the natural, solitary me, that’s a scary proposition; heartbreak hurts, and I feel already as though life has given me more than my fair share. The natural me probably isn’t capable of stepping outside the hedge, but the sanctified me — the me made new when I accepted salvation in Christ — knows that I have no choice. God’s Word is clear: I am to love as He loves. That means stepping out in faith. But because He loves me, and because He knows how hard this is for me, He has made His Word equally clear on another point: I am not alone. And neither are you. He promises that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.[1] And if I am not alone, and you are not alone, that must mean that we are together…and since together is where He means for us to be — I’ll see you outside the hedge!
Prayer:
Lord Most High, thank you for creating me. Thank You for loving me enough to send your son Jesus to die for me so that I will not perish, but will have eternal life. Thank you for the gift of this day. Please help me to remember that all love begins with You; help me to love You with all my soul, mind, and strength. Please forgive me for those times that I withheld your love from another when it was in my power to share it. Please give me wisdom and discernment to recognize Your call to love another as You have loved me. If I become timid or afraid, please send your spirit of power, love, and self-discipline[2] to comfort and encourage me. I humbly ask these things in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen.
Treasure Hunt:
Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (NIV)
Psalm 37:4
Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (NIV)
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths. (HCSB)
Faith in Action
Pray: Lord, you know that I live in a broken world, a world where I can’t always be sure what Your love looks like or how to express it. Please give me wisdom and discernment about when, where, how, and to whom you want me to extend Your love. You have told me in Your Word that “perfect love casts out fear.”[3] Help me to remember Your Word if I become afraid to follow You.
Act: Are you, like me, quiet, reflective, sensitive, and shy? If so, start small. You can still love from a distance — just close the distance a little.:) Smile at a stranger. Text a neighbor. Thank someone for being kind to you. Or, if you are feeling bold today, take a bigger step! Invite someone to coffee. Accept a lunch invitation. Tell someone, in person or on paper, how important they are to you. Ask for forgiveness. Forgive without being asked. Think of one way that God has loved you, and try to love one other person that way. He will bless your efforts, and they will bear good fruit![4]
About the Author: Leah Cusker. A Navy daughter, Army veteran, Army wife, and Marine mom, Leah lived in five countries, a dozen states, and twenty-one houses before God called her family to make a home in Huntsville. Married to the amazing Sean and blessed by three incredible kids, Leah came to Christ as an adult after decades of brokenness and has a heart for all women in similar circumstances. She thanks God daily for His gifts of redemption and salvation through Christ and believes passionately in the power of relationship to inspire change. Leah’s prayer is for every person she encounters to see through her and to the Savior. When she isn’t cooking, cleaning, parenting, or teaching, you will most likely find her digging in the yard, walking in the woods, worshiping with her family, or drinking much more coffee than is good for her.:)
ⓒLeah Cusker 2015
[1] Philippians 4:13, KJ21
[2] 2 Timothy 1:7, NIV
[3] 1 John 4:18, ESV
[4] James 3:17, NIV
2 Comments
Leah, thank you for your sharing. Amelia and I have enjoyed getting to know you and Natalie and look forward to being friends through the high school years.
Thank you, Charlotte! Appreciate you taking the time to write and the encouragement. Looking forward to seeing you both again in the fall!