Give up
A person I met a long time ago at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville said something that blew me away and lodged itself in my memory. She said, “I have finally accepted the fact that the peace and love I am looking for is not going to come from anybody in this world. The love I need can only come from God.”
When she said that I just looked at her with my mouth open.
Then she said, “The people who raised me did the best they could with what they had to work with, and best I can understand it looking back they never did have much to work with. The people that raised them didn’t have much to work with either. The truth is for a long time I’ve been putting too much pressure on them. I have decided to turn down the heat on them and throw myself at God. Only God can give me what I need.”
That was going on 20 years ago. With every year that’s passed since then I’ve come to see more and more the deep truth in what she said.
It really does all come down to God. Trusting God is everything. Only when I turn to God for all of my emotional and spiritual needs can I have a healthy, open relationship with other people that is marked by true freedom and deep love.
The only thing I have to give is that which I’ve been given and until I accept the fullness of God’s love, then I don’t have love, true love, to give. So, why don’t many of us accept the love that is always on offer? I don’t know about you, but me and the rest of the human race are generally too busy trying to solve all our own problems. We are busy stuffing anything we can find into the empty space inside of us in hopes that material things will calm the storm and heal the hurt. We tend to eat up precious time playing blame games and trying to get other people to meet our needs. All the while the only thing that will do the trick - God’s love - is waiting patiently in the wings.
Isn’t that something? God is everything. That’s why prayer is so important.
Who are you putting too much pressure on? Consider letting them be. Leave them alone. Give up, and give yourself to God.