LoveReign
a Love Affair with a SoveReign God
February 13th, 2023
Not Everything Glittering
I John 3:1-2, ‘Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us—He calls us children of God! It’s true; we are His beloved children. And in the same way the world didn’t recognize Him, the world does not recognize us either. My loved ones, we have been adopted into God’s family; and we are officially His children now. The full picture of our destiny is not yet clear, but we know this much: when Jesus appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is.’
She took off yet another wedding ring and tucked it inside, next to the previous two, the box now yellowed with age and dust. The bands of the first two rings had grown tarnished, and this one soon would be also. Like her. It’s not ever what she had envisioned for herself once upon a long time ago—the little girl’s dreams of marriage and family and love now buried like coffins filled with hope being lowered in the dirt. But now she really wasn’t even sure what she had dreamt of. All she knew for certain, the path she had been on hadn’t worked at all, and now it was littered with pain and brokenness and busted relationships, even with her children. It was hard to believe the day would take care of itself anymore as she held fragile beliefs like gossamer threads so easily tangled by winds of change. It was time for her to really take a long hard look at herself before too many more years of failure traveled down the drain. Ugh, she thought. So very overwhelming and disheartening to unravel yourself, to take yourself apart piece by piece, to trust the God you heard so much about would truly love you enough to put you back together again, in a new fashion, with a new purpose and a mended heart, with eyes wide open to the previous shortcomings you were allowing Him to repair or replace.
~ We have all been there. That surprise announcement, an unexpected phone call, the unsuspecting person, a startling revelation, a tragic accident, the unforeseen, that sudden dread in the pit of our stomach, those words we never wanted to hear, the unknowing and the unraveling. What happens with the disappointments in the hands of an all-knowing, sovereign God? What is on the other side of the tarnished coin?
That had been a lifetime, it seemed like, ago. A different lifetime. The years since had helped to heal many mistakes because time is a natural healer. But the real change came from deep within. She recognized that God is consistently and constantly working all things out, even all the errors and omissions of her younger self. All the minute details He is weaving together even though we think the God of the Universe would only care about the catastrophic calamities and tenacious agendas and big picture wreckages. She can look back and see His hand fashioned around every bit of her, His fingers instrumental in the outcomes before her now. What would have happened had she consulted Him the way she does now? Would there be a damaged place inside of her? and a dusty, almost forgotten box at the back of her closet with tarnished wedding bands hidden inside? Would her relationship be better with her children today? Would it be worse? One thing she knows she is grateful for is that they are her children whom she has entrusted to the Lord while she awaits His promised healing and His grace. She has so much to share with them someday if she is allowed the opportunity, so many years to make up for
‘You ready?’ he asks her, his hand on the small of her back. Her eye catches on the brilliance of the perfect ring for her settled neatly on her left hand. As always, the tears spring to the surface and they refract the color shooting from the diamond facets. They’re not going anyplace other than work tonight where they will spend the evening helping give hope to helpless and hopeless others who are once like they were. She thinks how special and how blessed her life is, that she can give back what she once carelessly took, alongside the man perhaps God meant for her all along. She was too busy doing her own thing back then in those days to have listened to God, but, how thankful is she now that He is sovereign and that He didn’t give up on her too soon. She doesn’t need to wonder what life would have been like, however. It is good to not wonder at all next to the lessons you have learned and to see the full life He brings about in the emptiest of places. (Is 58:12, MSG)
Joel 2:25a, ‘So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.’ (NKJV)
“When we feel like we are not good enough to be loved by God, we should remember that God’s love is greater than our doubts. We must silence the sounds of condemnation so we can hear the voice of God’s loving assurance and remember that He has selected us to be part of His family”. (The Voice, Bible Gateway)
