Would you rather love more or love less? Be more thankful or less thankful? Would you rather have more faith or less faith?

Hopefully, the answer to these questions is pretty simple and straight-forward.

Of course I’d rather love more and be more thankful and have more faith!

Yeah, but would you, really?

It seems to me that our world is set up in such a way that everything has a cost – even things of this nature.

If you want to be able to hold more, you need a bigger heart – and that requires stretching.

Do you know the story of the woman who anointed Jesus before he was crucified? She comes in to a dinner where Jesus is sitting with important religious people. She doesn’t say a word. She just starts weeping and washing Jesus’s feet with her hair and tears and pouring perfume on them.

The people at the dinner are confused and even a little annoyed by this, so Jesus tells a parable to try to change their perspective.

His final statement is, “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

See, her heart was absolutely overflowing with love, faith and gratitude.

It was so abundant that it was confusing and even offensive to the religious people.

Do you want that kind of love? Do I?

I’d like to say that I do – but I’m a little nervous to, as well.

Because, at least in her case, the depth of her love and thankfulness was directly connected to how far down Jesus had to reach to pull her back up.

She had been in some pretty dark places. For a long time.

Maybe the greater revelation of Jesus is found where we have our most desperate need of Him.

I don’t mean for this to be discouraging.

To the contrary, the Bible tells us to “consider it pure joy… whenever you face trials of many kinds…”(James 1:2) because “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us.” (Rom 8:18)

Not only should we desire to be stretched and to grow, but there is also great encouragement in the fact that no matter how far down you feel, not only is there hope that things will be ‘better,’ but that when Jesus reaches way, way down to pull you up, your heart will, in fact, overflow with more love, gratitude and faith than you can presently imagine.

See, sometimes it is even His grace that allows a season of suffering so that we can be among those whose hearts have been overwhelmed by love and thankfulness.

He takes that deep, dark pit in your heart and turns it into a gigantic cistern filled with His love and glory.