A Declaration Worth Living For

A dearest friend of mine is surrounded by darkness in a valley so deep it would make any mans knees shake. There are flickers of light that make their way to her soft, broken heart. But even with the faint rays that she experiences, it is darkness that encroaches and waits for her at every corner.
 

And she still smiles.

I wonder how? When I sit here sobbing in pain for her. Wanting to rescue her from it all.

So I ponder. On hope. On healing. On choosing joy in despair. On fighting when we want to give up. I think on what it means to yield to the Fathers plan....and are they really good? I consider His sovereignty-weighing how a loving Father allows soul-crushing pain to fill space in our lives.

Isn't this a question we are plagued with in our society? Christians and non-Christians alike. It haunts us. It threatens to take our faith away. It sucks the joy out of whole seasons of life. Because we just hurt and want it to go away. But the Creator sees our pain...He aches over our pain...and still He allows it.

So I dig deeper. I ask the hard questions with an expectant heart that I'll find answers. I only know one place to look.

I pray.

I cry.

I allow the God of truth to penetrate the dark questions with His unfailing light.

I read.

I call upon the Spirit to guide me.

I find quiet places to ponder, think and dream.

I still my soul.

I listen...

And you know what I find? I find my eyes are opened when I'm willing to consider that maybe, just maybe, His plans really are beautiful. That maybe, just maybe, there is truth in the whole idea that the blessing really is that which we are convinced is the curse.

I'm finding a new love with an old, well-worn verse. Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

I sit deep in my living room chair with a cup of tea and open my heart as I open my Bible and this verse weighs on me. It is light but it weighty. I consider the second word, "I". Who is this "I"? I begin to list the names of God. "I" is the Creator of all things. He is Alpha and Omega. He is truth. He is life. He is the King of Kings. He is love. And on and on I list the breath-taking reality of who this "I" is. And they are all perfect and beautiful and lovely but today while sipping my tea there is one name that takes my breath away the most.

"El Roi". The God who sees me.

This "I" is the God who sees me? He is the God who sees me. Every aching part of my soul. Every broken fiber of my weary heart. He sees. He knows the unspeakable things my friend is living with. He knows that evil wages a war to fill her minutes each day. He knows her soul is laced with truth but that her sobs are from deep places she can't see...only He can.

"El Roi". He sees her.

As I continue reading my heart pounds when I read the word "declare". "I" doesn't just say it. He doesn't just quickly move on and tell us about the plans He has...He pauses the verse there to make sure we understand the power of this particular passage. It's as if He is peering into our eyes, into our souls, and giving us the gift of a declaration. And this declaration speaks to me as a promise.

What does He promise? Prosperity, hope and a future.

What more could we need? What more freedom could we ask for? In a season of darkness and questioning He breaths the purest life into us by promising prosperity, hope and a future.

This is what I claim for my friend. I claim that our Sovereign, Holy Father who is wildly in-love with her, offers her the greatest promise that wraps up the gift of healing and redemption. And that which has been battered and lost in the dark valley will not remain there.  

My spirit considers this verse now. And I hear, "I. declare. prosperity. hope. a future".

I know why she smiles. Because she too knows this truth. She too stands firmly on this declaration. This promise that the world desperately needs to adopt as truth.

The answer is in the declaration. Our aches are temporary. Our hope in this promise is everlasting.

 

 

"I. declare. prosperity. hope. a future".