The following story is from a worship night we did where we were asked to close our eyes as music played and our leader walked us through the following. If you could go anywhere in the world, go there now. You are alone. You see someone coming… It's Jesus. Ask him the questions on your heart. Now allow him to answer. This was my worship experience.
“She could never go back and make some of the details pretty. All she could do was move forward and make the whole beautiful." -Terri St. Cloud
There she was, a little girl, 7 years old. She was dressed in a white pressed cotton sun dress, her brown curly hair down around her shoulders was being softly blown by the breeze that afternoon. It was spring, she was on a mountain side and a field full of blooming flowers lay before her as she sat under the tree. The day was warm and sunny, one she would never forget. It made the water in the creek glisten as it flowed over the rocks. The colors were so vivid that day. The oranges, yellows, pinks, purples, blues and greens of each flower and tree seemed to come to life. It was so much to take in. But then, off in the distance, someone was coming. A man . . . possibly her daddy she thought, but as he drew closer, she saw him, Jesus.
He was coming toward her arms open wide. She ran to him giggling and yelling out his name as she ran. When she reached him, he took her in his arms without hesitation and swung her around. He looked into her dazzling green eyes and spoke with so much love that it fed her soul. He said, “ My darling daughter, I love you so much. You are so beautiful and I want you to always remember that.” Her eyes welled up with tears and split over onto her cheeks. He pulled her in closer saying’ “I will never let go of you sweetheart. You are mine.”
He knew her heart, the questions, that pain that would come, the dark years, but in the moment he reminded her that he was redeeming her in the most intimate conversation he could have with her.
When he let her go, he took her by the hand. They walked along the stream tossing rocks into the water. He took her through the meadow of flowers and they picked bouquets of wildflowers till they couldn’t hold another flower. He showed the beauty of all that he created, the flowers, trees, grass, and mountains, but he also showed her how much more beautiful she was than all of those things. He hugged her and smiled, then walked her to the shade of the tree she had been sitting under and let her ask all of the questions that were on her heart. In that moment the floodgates opened. Mercy, love, forgiveness, hope, worth, and peace flowed. He answered her every question and spoke out over her, reached his hand out and allowed the healing for all of her days to flow. He answered questions about her future, and the beauty of his plan for her because he was never going to give up on her. His love would never run out, never stop, never end, never quit chasing her soul for he loved her more than anything!
