Give Me Grace : Living My Amen, Learning to Let It Be

photo : flickr cc : katy silberger

Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

(‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭20-22‬ MSG)

I’m learning to live my amen. The word connection came up as a prompt in a writing assignment this week. It’s no surprise. I love how His spirit infiltrates every detail of our lives. If you’re looking, there’s a lesson. An important personal message hidden amongst the mundane…probably right under your nose – in the ordinary.

This week the word connections sprouted conversations about relationships. Friendships. Most have stood the test of time. Some have been tested. Some fit into that magical category I call sweatless. The connection feels easy. Deeply connected, meant to be.

And I wondered at the root of this feeling. I think the “meant to be” is the great amen. The amen being the yes between us, even when we don’t agree.

An online friend wrote this about me. We marvel at our connection. But it’s really quite simple. We’ve let the great amen be our guide. We celebrate what connects us.

And that’s Christ.

With so much in life to divide us, I love the simplicity of coming together over Christ. His bond silences the squabbles about politics and theology and race. When we come together, under the umbrella of his love – we connect.

When online friendships break through the cyber walls that cover the cracks in our humanity – it may be different. You’ll call my honesty insensitive, I’ll call your zeal for God judgmental, we’ll squabble over gay rights and give each other the side eye because of our different, but still privileged world views.

This side of heaven we’re unfinished works. We won’t always agree. In our humanity, we’ll hurt and be hurt. But God.

But God.

He’s given us the job of loving each other well. And that sometimes means approaching the bridge, living the truth of amen. Because every bridge isn’t a battle and maybe we should lay down our swords and meet in the middle. Share a meal and connect over His love. Walk away, hand in hand, to the other side. Wherever that is. Maybe it isn’t even important that we cross the bridge, maybe it’s just that we be willing to show up. Share an amen and leave transformed, even a little….by grace. Maybe it isn’t as hard as we make it. Maybe the bridge is beautiful.

I’m feeling the ahhh in amen. I’m learning to take deep belly breaths with relationships. Let his love guard my heart and guide my steps. From inhalation to exhalation…it’s a process. I’m learning to hold loosely those people and things I keep trying to fight and fix. To forgive and to let some things be.

I keep coming back to love. I’ll stick with God and His love. It’s the only answer I have. His will. His way. Let it be. This is how I walk out the truth of amen. His amen…in me.

God often speaks to me through songs…He used this when I felt challenged this week
Here’s the wisdom for today via Paul McCartney….

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

Here’s a link to a story about the inspiration for the song.