photo credit: flickr(creative commons)
I have a friend who used to say that God would redeem the time lost for many of our mistakes, and the times we chose to follow our own ways versus His. I’ve thought about that statement many times since then.
She was right..
I had a friend who struggled with alcoholism for years. It stole many things from her, including precious time with her children. When I met her, the relationship with her children was indeed broken. She was getting help. But she had done that before. This time couldn’t be any different in their eyes. But she knew inside that this time something was different. She was surrendered. She was ready. Jesus was calling her closer and this time she was accepting the call.
I watched her go through the struggle of not just staying sober, but finding freedom. I watched her shed many tears in her fight. She used my shoulder to cry on when there were days she wasn’t sure she could make. She would get off the phone with one of her children and guilt would slap her in the face. Shame would fill her soul. Could relationships truly ever be redeemed? God said so. We just had to believe. I did my best to believe with her.
Fast forward..
Not only has my freind celebrated two years of sobriety, but today she is celebrating freedom. She talks weekly with all three of her chidlren. God brought her a husband she wasn’t looking for. She smiles, not just on the outside, but the inside too.
She called me recently and I could hear the tears in her voice. They were happy tears. One of her daughters had just given birth to a beautiful little girl. My friend held her daughter’s hand as God brougth another blessing into the world. There was a time when unforgivenss and hurt separated them. Not anymore. There was love. There was forgiveness. There was hope.
She said to me, “Sundi Jo, I don’t deserve any of this, but God keeps blessing me. I got to be in the room to watch my daughter give birth. I’m so overwhelmed I can’t belive it.”
I told her with a smile,
“God redeemed the time. You always said He would.
I write this to you today to offer you hope. Wherever you’re at in life right now, God can work. If you let Him.
Has an affair separated you from the one you vowed to always love?
Did you spew hurtful words on your child after refusing to put down that drink?
Do you believe you’ve screwed up so badly that you can never turn back?
Wrong..
There is nothing that Jesus can’t fix if you’re are willing to find the freedom that He offers. Don’t hold back. Go for it. Tell Him you’re ready. Tell Him you want to be ready. Tell Him to make you ready. He’s always up for a challenge!
Our Redeemer Lives!
What do you need to give to Him today to start the redemption process? Comment below…
Today is a bad day.
Today is the day after the day I found out my daughter has been addicted to heroin for nearly two years.
Today is the day I reflect on how I contributed to that addiction. What did I do?
Did I leave my home to soon in a divorce, leaving her behind?
Did I not love enough or care enough when she was young?
Did I not lead well enough to keep her happy, healthy, and a productive citizen of the world?
Today is the day I cry, scream, and recover so that I can help her.
Today will be a good day.
Spencer,
So sorry to hear that crushing news. Remember that we all make our own choices. Though their may be a lot of contributing factors to your daughter’s addiction, choices we make can’t be put one someone else.
I will be praying for your daughter and that God sweeps her into His arms and puts her in a safe place. I know of a great place if you’re ever interested to learn more.
Praying for you as well.
I love knowing ‘all things work together for our good when we love Him & are called for his work’. I paraphrased and you gave a real world example.
We have choice in our lives and of course make mistakes but our days are set and so are all our blessings. Nothing can take us off the earth prematurely and no one can steal from us things that are specifically ours only.
We can lose things we never wanted to or die earlier than anyone would have imagined still we are blessed. When we walk with the Lord He makes all things new and reveals things for us to enjoy. Where ever God needs us to be is where we will find ourselves. Some like Jonah or even like Paul.
God has said He blesses the work of our hands. Really these are things to REJOICE about. We have a glorious hope! Amen