I was reading in Colossians today and when I got to verses 13 and 14 in chapter 1 it hit me all over again. God did so much for me and He's not about to leave me hanging!
Colossians 1:13-14 says ...For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
Now I've read these verses hundreds of times but apparently the Holy Spirit wanted me to grapple with some descriptive verbs that seemed to just jump off the page (or actually the screen from my Bible app) and smack me around with a powerful reality when I'm down or grumbling or whining or tempted to book a venue and cater my own pity party.
What are the action words that nailed me today? Rescued, Transferred, Purchased and Forgave are the ones that God used to remind me that He has a plan and I'm a part of it!
Why would He rescue me from the kingdom of darkness if He didn't have a purpose for me? Why would He then transfer my citizenship into the Kingdom of light ruled over by none other than Jesus Himself? Why would He go to such great lengths like He did to purchase my freedom through His sacrifice on the cross? Why would He then choose to blot out all the selfishly wrong things I've done in my life and forgive and restore? I don't get it that's for sure!
It was a great time of thanking God for all that He has done, and then I started thinking about some of the people I know that are really struggling with difficult situations that seem to be overwhelming them and as I was praying for them to have the same reassurance that I was feeling through what God has done the words to the song "Listen to the sound" by Building 429 kept rattling around in my brain.
The lyric in the song that says..."You'll never know what faith is until you don't understand, sometimes it takes the silence to finally hear His plan" really got my attention as I was caused to pray that God would bring clarity and reassurance of His plan and purpose not only in my life but in the lives of all those who are really hurting these days.
So, I want to encourage you today that no matter where you are, what you're going through or what you're feeling God is right there with you. Why would He go through all that He did in rescuing, transferring, purchasing and forgiving if He didn't have some action words ready to deliver in your life?
Action words like live, love, give, share, proclaim and serve come to mind as I realize that what He wants me to do is respond to His great love in a way that says "thank you" for what He's done, "I trust you even when I don't understand" and dear friend, "this hope that I know can be yours as well."
God took some serious action to restore a relationship that was broken, my prayer is that we would listen to the sound that He's using to get our attention to remind us that we're not alone, reassure us that He's in control and re-energize us to share the good news with everyone.
Let's put it into action!
No comments:
Post a Comment