These last few years have marked a real change for me. I've always been the type who planned each day, who wanted everything to run by a schedule and be under control. I've learned, that even though that sounds admirable and extremely organized, it's basically an accident looking to happen. Because, girlfriend, ain't no how that things are always going to go according to MY plan. I've worked hard to change my thinking. But, I can because I've been given a little secret. Actually, it's not really a secret. It's in a published book that has been read for thousands of years.
It is so easy to look around and be overwhelmed by the brokenness and pain in this world. Sometimes, it's more than I can actually handle. The deep pain ... fractured relationships ... shattered dreams ... injustice ... fears ... anger ... hatred -- don't look for too long, because you'll see every one of these on a daily basis. Our world is full of it, and it just seems to get worse, no matter how we try. Families destroyed by addiction. Couples heartbroken by infertility. Marriages devastated by infidelity. Parents estranged from prodigal children. It's all there.
One thing I hold on to: that Jesus will make all things new. He says that He will, that He's in the process even now. He talks about this in Isaiah 43:19, Revelation 21:5, and Isaiah 65:17. All that is broken, worn out, abused, discarded, destroyed, devastated -- it will be restored, made new, redeemed. It's what enabled me to walk my own long, dark road. I knew that maybe there would never be a reconciliation on this earth, but God would restore the brokenness that sin caused. It was a promise, a certainty. It. Would. Happen. It's all I had to hold on to -- the Word of my Lord.
I held on for all I was worth because nothing else seemed to matter. And now, I'm holding on for all I'm worth for someone else -- someone whose journey looks different than mine. Someone who is dealing with a different emptiness than I dealt with.
Here's the deal. I'm able to wrap my mind around the restoration of a relationship. I can see the resurrection from death to life, of the lame walking and the blind seeing. Those all "make sense" to me...but what about infertility? What is the restoration there? It's not like the empty wombs here will be filled with life there in heaven, in eternity.
I've wrestled with this. What will it look like? I'm not totally sure, but I'm thinking it will look something like this. The empty arms here will be full in heaven. There will be no emptiness. There will be no aching hearts or feeling like we're missing a piece of ourselves. There will be none of that. Instead, we'll be full -- fuller than we could ever be as a wife, or a mom, or a person. Our hearts won't long for anything because we'll be with Jesus. Period. We'll have all that our hearts will desire because we'll be in His presence. Period. Everything that was wrong with the world here, everything that sin left a stain on or broke, everything ... everything will be restored, resurrected. Exclamation mark!!
One thing I hold on to: that Jesus will make all things new. He says that He will, that He's in the process even now. He talks about this in Isaiah 43:19, Revelation 21:5, and Isaiah 65:17. All that is broken, worn out, abused, discarded, destroyed, devastated -- it will be restored, made new, redeemed. It's what enabled me to walk my own long, dark road. I knew that maybe there would never be a reconciliation on this earth, but God would restore the brokenness that sin caused. It was a promise, a certainty. It. Would. Happen. It's all I had to hold on to -- the Word of my Lord.
I held on for all I was worth because nothing else seemed to matter. And now, I'm holding on for all I'm worth for someone else -- someone whose journey looks different than mine. Someone who is dealing with a different emptiness than I dealt with.
Here's the deal. I'm able to wrap my mind around the restoration of a relationship. I can see the resurrection from death to life, of the lame walking and the blind seeing. Those all "make sense" to me...but what about infertility? What is the restoration there? It's not like the empty wombs here will be filled with life there in heaven, in eternity.
"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)
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