Real Connections

Acceptance. We're all looking for it on some level. The need to feel like you're important and that people love you is ingrained deep in our souls. God made us that way. He made us as social creatures who hunger for connection with others and with himself. It's one of our basic human needs. When that need is not met or understood people suffer, problems and pain rip us apart or linger in the deeper regions of our psyche. Our relationships with loved ones suffer further damage through our own reactions or defense mechanisms. It's our lack of connection to God that causes all of those problems and so much more. Can you imagine what it will be like in heaven when we fully experience the deepest possible harmony with God and each other? When we fell into sin we tragically lost that harmony. What we call "normal life" right now is not normal. It is not normal to deal with the pain and conflict and misunderstanding and lack of trust and all that comes with it. We can't re-create Eden on earth, even though many human movements try to do that. We can't get true harmony again by tolerating sin or sinful lifestyles. Only God can bring us back into harmony with himself through his powerful truth. Only he can give us true worth and a good, healthy relationship with himself. He did that by sending his Son, Jesus, to take our sins and credit us with his perfection. Only through God's gift of faith in Jesus as our Savior do we have any positive connection with God. Only through Jesus do we grow in our relationship and connection with one another. We love because he first loved us.

The main character in my novel is wracked by his inability to connect with others. Some of it is his own fault and sinful resentments. His community is also largely to blame. I really want his struggle to resonate with people...especially people who have been damaged by the lovelessness of others and their own sinful responses. It's this impulse to find acceptance and honor in his community that will lead to his adventures and self-discoveries. He's going to need to grow in his understanding of who his God is and what God has done for him and will do. Don't we all? One of my prayers in writing this book is that those who read it also grow in their understanding and appreciation for God's undeserved mercy and grace. All of us feel disconnected on some level. Only God can truly save us, heal us and reconnect us as his people.