the BLESSING
Identifying the Goodness of God
November 9th, 2022
Romans 8:31-32, ‘So what does all this mean? If God has determined to stand with us, tell me, who then could ever stand against us? For God has proved His love by giving us His greatest treasure, the gift of His Son. And since God freely offered Him up as the sacrifice of us all. He certainly won’t withhold from us anything else He has to give.’ (TPT)
Cross-Fit
I am so grateful for God’s intervention in my life. There is nothing like Jesus. It took me a really long time to learn this truth, but once I did, there is no going back for me. He intersected me when I stood at a depictive crossroad and I cannot imagine what life would be like for me at this time in my life had I continued on my same path or chosen to go another route altogether. God still speaks today, and if you will seek His face, if you will search to know His heart, if you will cease striving and listen, you will hear Him.
That’s what happened to me. I had to be still and listen. He spoke. In Jeremiah 29, we all know very well v.11 that promises He knows the plans He has for each of us who know Him to give us a hopeful future, but we seldom talk about how we get there to know the plans He has purposed for His children. In v.13&14a, God promises that He will be found by us when we seek Him with our whole heart; when we search for Him, He will be found by us. That’s the intersection I arrived at, alone and afraid. I quieted myself, and even though I didn’t realize it, I was before Him and He saw my confusion and fear and gaping neediness. I heard His voice and listened for His instruction, and I followed as best I knew how. Why? Because I was done trying it my way. All my maneuvers had failed. There was nothing else working and I had come to the end of me.
See, when we come to the end of ourselves, then we can search for Him with all we have left. We recognize He is—and always has been—in reckless pursuit of His children, of your heart and mine. After all, He sent His only Son into this world, so He would be able to identify with our struggles and brokenness, to point us to the Father, to save us from ourselves. It is a crazy beautiful truth, that the Cross, Christ’s destiny, became the intersection between God’s greatest heartbreak (the Son He gave) and His deepest love (this love affair with the people He created for friendship and fellowship). It is the biggest blessing I will ever be given, the sacrifice He made for me, a gift from a good, good Father.
Psalm 18:19, ‘He stood me in a wide open field. I stood there saved, surprised to be loved!’ (MSG)
