I’ve been avoiding blogging for the past few months; as you can probably tell.
It’s not that I have nothing to say, it’s that it all starts to seem repetitive when I try to write it out, and that seems to steal away the vivacity and depth of what is happening. But what is happening is vibrant, it’s deep and life-changing.
I could, (or wish I could) sit with each person reading this, each curious or hungry soul needing some encouragement and refreshment, for hours on end sharing not only the way God has worked in my life, but stories that began horrific beyond imaginations allowance. I could tell you how the sweet, loud, strong woman who spent countless hours cooking and cleaning for us and the men of the rehab center we lived in, was held in Russia by a criminal group, lived on the streets with her husband and two daughters, lived through abuse, addiction, and nearly losing one of her daughters to extremely violent demon possession, and how the hand of the Lord turned even that around. I could tell you how she is reconciled to her husband, how she prays with more vigor and gusto than I have capacity for in my entire body, and how she continues to fight through struggles every day, but now, on the Lord’s strength which is more than enough.
If we could just sit and have a cup of joe together, I could possibly tell you more than the nutshell story of a man who God spoke to as he served a sixteen year prison sentence, landed there by a life of drugs, alcohol, and other criminal activity. After giving his life to Christ, he continued to endure through his prison time in a foreign country and two near-death illnesses before he was released and God called him back to Transnistria. He now is in leadership over the men in the rehab center where we lived. He is about twice my height and could take out most NFL players I’ve seen, and every centimeter of him is filled with the Spirit. When he speaks, people listen. When he walks in, you notice his presence immediately. But that’s largely because when God speaks, he listens fully. When the Spirit is present, he is attentive to its every move. He is a man who truly embodies what it means to walk with God.
I could share with you how God called out a self-proclaimed “impolite” man to lead this church and congregation. I could tell you about the lives they’ve touched. I could tell you about the men who came into the rehab center freshly out of prison with vices and struggles of their own and were welcomed in as family. Because these people get it. These people have gotten it. They’ve received the love that surpasses understanding and the fullness that can’t be replaced by anything in this world. They’ve met the One who heals, and in Him, there is no fear. There are no boundaries to that kind of love they now have because He has given so freely.
So….
Since I can’t share more than a nutshell of that, I will simply share this:
God is alive! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He restores. Fully! He restores and redeems to the point of rewriting the story entirely. Over and over and over and over the story is being written and retold and recreated in previously broken hearts everywhere. His faithfulness truly does endure. We are not former slaves. We are not people who formerly made mistakes or flat out screwed it up. We are not previous orphans. It is rewritten. We are His children. We are His bride. We have inherited His fullness; His love. Praise God!
I hope this encourages you and revives some tired spirits out there.
