"As I explained earlier, the Lover emerges around the time of the Warrior, those stages overlapping, and let me add he continues right through to the end of a man's life, for the King must be a Lover as he must be a Warrior, and the Sage is a Lover long after he has handed the fighting of battles over to younger men. So what we are cultivating here is something that will grow all your life. We are opening a door that must never be shut. And again, before we talk of loving a woman, let us first turn to the romance with God."
The reality of all of this comes down the fact that without God, all of this is meaningless. Eventually, we are unable to do the things we love to do, and when that happens what are we left with? I shared the clip from Second Hand Lions, how Hub fears being useless and helpless in a fight. Without the Beauty all he aspires to be is a Warrior, but there comes a time when it's no longer possible to go into battle. No matter what your passion is, there will come a time when you are unable to do it. Arthritis takes away your ability to play an instrument. A bad back or knee makes it impossible to work in your garden. A spouse or child dies. If that is your world, what happens?
Our first, and greatest loved must be for God. That relationship is the only thing that doesn't fade over time. It is the only thing that the older we get the more we can invest in it and the more we can enjoy it. And when everything else is lost we can hold on to our greatest passion and be grateful for the experience He gave us, not angry that they are in the past. And God wants this for us. He wants to speak to us in ways that are unique to us. "How has he been wooing you? What has stirred your heat over the years?... God has many such gifts for you, particular to you, and now that you have this stage of the Lover to watch for, eyes to look for the Romance, you'll begin to see them, too."
How has God been speaking to your heart? For me recently it's been with plants. I'll learn something about a different variety, one that blossoms earlier, or longer. I learn about a new unique plant that I didn't know I could grow in North East Ohio. I'll find ones that fruit at a different point that pollinate a variety that fruits at a different time so that I can enjoy fresh fruit longer and have better harvests because of the variety. And in all of this it's a chance to get a taste of the simplicity of life in the beginning. "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed... Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it"(Genesis 2.7-8, 15).
Gardening is never a hobby I planned on having, or loving as much as I do. "We cannot control what the Romancer is up to, but there is a posture we can take. There is an openness to this stage that will enable us to recognize and receive the wooing. So let me ask - are you willing to let go of your insistence to control, meaning, to allow for a life that exists beyond the realm of analysis, to let some portions of your life be impractical, to cease evaluating all things based on their utility and function? Coming closer to the heart, are you willing to let passion rise in you, though undoubtedly it may unnerve you? To permit the healing of some of your deepest wounds? To let yourself be run through as with a rapier by Beauty itself? Are you willing, at some point, to be undone? Then we may proceed. to enter into the Romance we must slow down, or we will miss the wooing... what was it that stirred your hear over the years? Go and get it back."
It's crucial that we remember that this is a process, and that the other party involved is a wonderfully complex individual. There will be aspects that confuse us and mystify us, and we have to be ok with that. We cannot try to rationalize God and reason everything out, it's not going to happen, and what kind of relationship is that? Is that what our wives want from us? Or instead do they want us to pursue them as the unveil the beauty the possess? It's the same way with God. It takes a willingness to be vulnerable, and courage to step into the unknown. but what is waiting for us is beauty and intimacy beyond our wildest imagination. It is something we must be willing to fight for, because it is something good worth having, but we have to remember that ultimately it isn't about the battle, but the Beauty that is being fought for.
"But life is not all about the battle. The Romance is always central. Listen again to David: though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD. (Ps. 27:3-4 NIV) He knows battle, knows what it is to have God come through for him. He does not fear it; he is confident as a seasoned warrior is confident. But, he does not make it his heart's desire. What he seeks is not battle - what he seeks is the romance with God."
That is what it all comes down to, the reason we prepare for battle and go to war is ultimately about winning the freedom to experience God. We will have to fight for it, and it's ok because we are Warriors, but life is not about the battle. One day battle will end, the enemy will be vanquished, and the war will be over. On that day all we will have to do is be fully caught up in the romance we have with God. We will enjoy intimacy with Him as we were created to. The fighting will be over, and the celebration will begin.
"For we must remember: the battle is for the Romance. What we fight for is the freedom and healing that allow us to have the intimacy with God we were created to enjoy. to drink from his river of delights... If a man does not find his life in God, he will become a very thirsty man, and thirsty men have been known to do some very stupid things."
A thirsty man will try to satisfy his thirst in any way he can, and ultimately in ways that do more harm than good. The best thing to quench your thirst is water, it's pure, clean, and refreshing. We have things that stand in, pop, sports drinks, juice, and all of them offer flavor and enjoyment, but none of them are nearly as refreshing as a cool glass of water. And it is the same way with us. Too often we see refreshment in things that cannot really satisfy, "there is a Beauty we long for calling to us through the beauty of the woman we are enchanted by. She is not the Beauty itself, only a messenger. If we never look beyond, we will try in vain to find it in her, causing both ourselves and the woman a great deal of pain."
And when this happens, there is need of healing.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
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