Truths Revealed from "Redeeming Love"

Reading this novel opened up my eyes to some things. (Don't you just love it when a book in some way opens your mind and reveals truth to you?) First there's the obvious relation of God's love for us being so amazingly unconditional and no matter how we continue to stray, he always takes us back. But deeper than that, I felt other truths coming to the surface.
1. You cannot let a person take priority above God in your life. So often we do this and not even realize it. Perhaps it's the kids, or spouse, or a friend, or parent. When you find yourself wanting to please that person in spite of what God's word says is pleasing to him, you are drifting off in to sin. As someone who loves deeply, I have many times found that when I get very close to someone and that sort of "worship" mentality comes to me, something always happens to sort of pull the rug out from under things. Either that person's human flaws come into play, or they are taken away from me for awhile. I hear a gentle voice in the stillness saying "you shall have no other Gods but me." Loneliness is what draws our souls to God. He is the only thing that satisfies. Depending on anyone else only leaves you feeling empty.
2. Wanting something that is right does not make it okay to want it more than anything else. God's will is what we should be seeking, not our own solution to our pain. We think we know what we need to be happy, but we don't see the bigger picture the way he does. It also becomes a sin when we desire something outside of God's will. I forget this all too often when I am hurting. I know what I want and I feel the pity taking over and instead of leaving it to God, I lose my joy and hope in his control over things. In the book so many times Michael Hosea asked God WHY? Why would you want me to face this? Why would you want me to hurt this way? Why do I have to feel so lonely and heartbroken over this woman who you've given me? Why won't she love me the way I love her? God's answer was always to wait. He was working it out. He had a plan all along. It wasn't about Michael or the amount of faith he had or what he deserved or how much God loved him. It was about her. Michael had to let her be changed by God, not by him.
3. God is enough. Seeking God, being filled with the Holy Spirit, crying out to Jesus has to be enough. If you lose focus on your relationship with God, you become discontent. It's like passing on the fresh spring water of God's grace and mercy to take a sip of the world's salt water. It will only leave you wanting more and will never be what you need. The more earthly pleasures you seek, the more desire will burn in you, the more empty you will feel. The only way to joy is God's love for us. God IS enough and we have to stop seeking that fulfillment elsewhere.
4. Sometimes you can hurt yourself more by trying to keep yourself from being hurt. This one is major. How often do we push people away in fear of being hurt by them? What about the walls we put up to keep people out or at a distance? It made me think of how I shell up, withdraw when I feel rejected or neglected.
5. The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heaven. MILTON
Read the book and you will understand the magnitude of this statement. All I can really say is -The mind is such a powerful thing.