Reason #780

Today was the kind of Saturday I have been needing. I feel like I live most of my life sleep deprived, and today I helped make up for that. I woke up around 11:00AM this morning, which I haven't done in a long, long, long time. It was nice to get about 10 hours of sleep. If only I could do that every night. Anyway, I had no plans for the day so I had all day to clean the house. Usually, I try to get house cleaning over as fast as I can, but today I took my time. As I was dusting the guest bedroom, I sat down and read through a stack of cards that I had tucked away in the desk drawer. It didn't take long for tears to start rolling down my face, and my heart was so overwhelmed as I went back and read through each card.

I have every card I've ever received, but these cards were mostly from the past three years. My sister-in-law had sent me one that said:

God has not promised skies always blue

flower-strewn pathways all our lives through.

God has not promised sun without rain,

joy without sorrow,

peace without pain.

 

But God has promised strength for the day,

rest for the labor, light for the way.

Grace for the trials, help from above,

unfailing sympathy, undying love.

 

-Annie Johnson Flint

 

Sometimes cards really do say it best because sometimes we just don't know what to say. And the thing I love about this card is that it highlighted what God's promises are. Notice that it doesn't say anything about happiness or about getting everything you want. And at that time in my life, this is what I needed to hear. Because I had fully believed that God was going to give me what I was asking for. I trusted that He was going to give me what I wanted because I couldn't see how anything else could possibly be better. And so as I prayed so desperately, so earnestly, for God's promises of redemption and restoration to take place, I didn't realize that they would be coming in completely different forms.

 

Do we really expect joy in the sorrow, peace in the pain? No, and I didn't expect redemption and restoration in the midst of heartbreak, but that's where I found it. I know a lot of times it seems like my redemption and restoration took place when I met Aaron, but that's not entirely the case. He was, no doubt, a huge part of the picture, but had God chosen not to cross our paths, my life would have still been redeemed and restored. Marriage was not the only way that was going to happen, and I want to make that clear. Because it seems like often, we think the only way God can redeem and restore is to give us what we've been praying for. But redemption and restoration have nothing to do with a replica or a replacement. Of course, God may decide to give you exact what you lost. He may return it to you, or He may allow you to have it in a different form. But sometimes He may not. And so when I look at my life as a whole, I see redemption and restoration in so many ways.

 

Had God not restored and redeemed my life, I would have never started a bible study. I wouldn't have half of the friends I have today, and I wouldn't have met most the people I have because of the path God took me down. If He had not redeemed and restored my life, I would have never started a blog. I wouldn't have experienced God in the ways that I did. I wouldn't understand His healing power. I wouldn't have grasped the concept of literally depending on Him with each breath. I wouldn't have seen how He is a provider and that no need goes unmet. I wouldn't have any idea of how loved I really was, and how many amazing people I was surrounded with. Had God not restored and redeemed my life, I don't know where I'd be, but I know for sure I would not be in a better place.

 

God restores us and redeems us to make us look more like Him. That's the whole purpose. It's not so that we can have what we lost or get what we think we deserve. He strips us down to the bare bones so He can piece us back together again in His image. We'll gain things along the way, we'll lose them, too. Sure, it's not an easy process, but as we continue forward, we understand that it's for our own good. Because in the end, our lives will be more beautiful than we could have imagined, and we'll be grateful that we hung in there for it.

 

#780 - For the beauty of redemption and restoration.

 

"But I will trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to The Lord because He has been so good to me." - Psalm 13:5-6