Even when old fears and habits resurface, God’s unwavering love reminds us that we are made new in Him, and He is faithful to complete the work He started in us.
Have you ever looked at the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32? Have you ever wondered what kind of process that the prodigal son went through after he came home? I do. I sometimes wish we were given more insight into what some of the people in the Bible were thinking.
In as much as I know that my Father loves me and see the evidence that my Father loves me. I still try to pick up the old coat some days. You know the one. The one that is covered in pig yuck and stinks to high heaven. I still look and wonder when the shoe is going to fall. When will He decide He doesn’t love me? When will He send me out of the house and into the servant’s quarters, or worse yet, declare He doesn’t know me? Because at that moment, doubt convinces me that protecting me for 39 years just isn’t enough proof that He loves me.
I’ve given up the escapades from my youth, the season of seeking after things that are not godly and not of God. But the behavior, the thought patterns, and the things that I’ve developed over the last 39 years of my life haven’t gone away overnight. I find myself wandering off down a rabbit hole, dancing with worry and fear for far too long before I recognize the old stench and leave the dance floor. I pick up the old coat forgetting that my Father doesn’t intend for me to wear it anymore. And yet, I look and I still see His love. I see His favor and His blessing and I am encouraged. I am reminded that my Father has promised that He will finish that which He has started.
Philippians 1:6
"Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ"
I am reminded that my Father loves me and has made me anew.
2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
I am reminded that all of the trials, all of the fire, He works that for good.
Genesis 50:20
"But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."
Romans 8:28
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
I’m reminded of his faithfulness through my day-to-day search for who he is. I am reminded of his goodness with the people that he has placed in my life to surround me in this time. And I am overwhelmed with a love that says, “I knew of the choices that you would make before you made them.” and “I was aware of the road you would need to go down to get to where I needed you to be.”
I am overwhelmed that the God who put stars into place, created me for his pleasure, created me in such a unique way that only by learning to lean into Him am I satisfied. Only by learning to lean into Him and love Him in return are my needs met. I feel whole and complete for the first time ever.
I know that the enemy won’t stop. In fact, I think he comes harder some days now than he used to, but I also know my Father won’t stop and my Father won’t let go. No matter how often I need to lean in and cry. How often it might not feel like He is here, the evidence is overwhelming. The same way that I can see the wind on a breezy day. The same way it blows through the branches, waves through our hair, and skirts along with the leaves on the ground. In that same way, I see my Father taking care of me. Not just today. Not just yesterday. In all the steps of my life. In moments that I should not have survived, in moments that don’t make sense, in moments where chaos should have consumed me, my Father was there providing yet another opportunity to grab hold of His love, for me to grab hold of who He is and sit in the knowledge and the understanding of that and know.
Psalms 46
"Be still, and know that I am God"
I don’t know where you are on your journey today. I don’t know what trials you might have suffered and have overcome or are still overcoming. I don’t know what old coat you keep trying to pick up and put on, what behaviors or old thought patterns that try to sneak back into your life. I do know that the Father is consistent in His love. I do know that each time you choose to lean into the Father, you let go of just a little bit more of the old behaviors and thought patterns.
To achieve this, it would be necessary to have uniform grammar, pronunciation and more common words. If several languages coalesce, the grammar of the resulting language is more simple and regular than that of the individual languages. The new common language will be more simple.
It will be as simple as Occidental; in fact, it will be Occidental. To an English person, it will seem like simplified English, as a skeptical Cambridge friend of mine told me what Occidental is. The European languages are members of the same family.
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Comments
adamgordon
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annabrown
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