The Current of Love
The Apple screensavers on our television have footage of moon jellyfish off the coast of Alaska. Moon jellies appear colorless and transparent. As I watched the screensaver, I was amazed at the beauty of these creatures. They move rhythmically and float about as if they hadn’t a care in the world.
While watching the jellies, I was reminded of a children’s movie from 10 years ago created by Phil Vischer, called “Galaxy Buck.” In this movie, there is a character named Buck Denver. Buck works at a ministry answering the phones and helping ship items to people. In his cubicle, there is a poster that says, “God wants you to do big things.”
Buck is convinced that he needs to do something big for God. He is feeling disappointed with his ordinary life and wishing for some extraordinary experience to come along. He ends up volunteering himself and some of his co-workers to go on a space mission to help repair a damaged piece of equipment. They are assured they are traveling to an uninhabited planet, and it should be quick work to change out the damaged part.
Once on the planet, it becomes clear it is not uninhabited. The team gets split up in a sandstorm, with Buck falling into a cave where he meets an older man who looks a bit like a Jedi. They start talking, and Buck explains how he is trying to do something big for God so that his life can really matter. Conveniently, Buck brought his poster in his pocket and showed it to his new friend. The friend quickly tears his poster in half and gives him back just the top part, so now it simply says “God wants you.”
Buck and his new friend proceeded to get into a small submarine and head underwater to distribute food to some jellyfish. These particular jellyfish look a lot like moon jellies. While there, Buck’s friend says, “Jellyfish can’t choose their own course. They can’t go anywhere or accomplish anything on their own.” Buck replies, “What is the point of that?” His friend answers, “The jellyfish is carried by the current. It must trust the current to take it where it needs to be.”
To the jellyfish, there isn’t another way. They are along for the ride, wherever it goes. For me, a human, that feels much, much harder.
Buck’s friend goes on to say, “God has my life suspended in the current of his love.”
Do we trust the current of God’s love? Do we trust God with all of the parts of our life? Do we know that we are loved and nothing we do big or small can increase or diminish that love?
God wants you!
Full stop.
God doesn’t want you because you can do things for him. Of course, there will be plenty of opportunities to do things, but that isn’t why God wants you.
God wants you because he created you and delights in you.
This week, will you allow God to carry you by the current of his love and trust that the current will take you where you need to be?
~ Melissa