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Redemption. How would you summarize that word in 1 sentence?
Had you asked me to do this 6 months ago I would have said “When God takes something ugly and makes it beautiful.” I still believe that to be true, but what does that even mean? I have acne on my face and if I pray hard enough it will go away and I’ll be beautiful? No. I don’t have money to buy the home decor I like, but maybe if I pray for it...I’ll get them anyway. No. Don’t get me wrong, God can do aaaaanything and he does give really beautiful gifts...I’m not discrediting even the simplest of things He does for us.
The dictionary explains redemption like this:
Isn’t that interesting considering a large part of the world doesn’t believe in being saved from sin? I just found it so intriguing that a universal book such as the dictionary would describe Redemption to us using those words...what’s your take on that?
I had my first experience with true redemption at the age of 28. I’ve been a believer and grew up in the church most of my life, but I had never experienced redemption before. Is that because God had never redeemed anything in my life or because my eyes were blind to it all along? I’m still figuring that part out, but leaning heavily on the latter. My first experience wouldn’t even have happened if I had not made the conscious choice to look for these moments/joys in everyday situations. When people used to tell me that God wanted to redeem my marriage, I believed them because I believed in God’s power...but I didn’t believe that I would actually find true joy or fulfillment as a wife ever again. I believed a
dark cloud might follow me around for the rest of my life. Real encouraging right? It was so hard to do anything idle because my mind would wander in places it shouldn’t. I began to meditate on this scripture early on into the process of finding healing. It’s easier said than done, I know....but so worth the effort.
A friend of mine shared a long, sad, wonderful, happy story at a women’s retreat one time and it was so full of hope...I had to get my hands on this secret to joy that she had. Can you guess what it was? Redemption........so, again I was a little confused because she was experiencing the FULL deal and I was only getting the 10% discount, so to speak. After she shared her story I went home and couldn’t stop thinking about it. What was she doing differently than me? Then one day, it hit me...she was ACTING. She wasn’t sitting around saying “oh yeahhh, all in God’s timing”...she was documenting things, praying over things, talking to people about things....I mean she was putting in some sweat while I’m over here napping, dreaming for something magical to happen. So, if you read my last post about the eclipse you’ll see the turning point for me...where I went from mentally working towards redemption and physically working towards it. It was an immediate reward. God was probably redeeming my heart all along...I just wasn’t open to it yet.
So, if you were to ask me now what I believe redemption to be I would say “Choosing to see the beautiful things that God is doing in my life instead of dwelling on the ugly things.” Now that we’re done can you summarize at least 1 area of your life where you would like to find redemption? Maybe there are a lot...I want to encourage you to ACT. Stand up, stretch it out, pray, and then open your eyes to the Lord. What are some small or big joys you’ve witnessed happen, but maybe overlooked? You’ve already read about my first experience....Let me go think about which one to share next.....
love,
