A busy week finds me, yet again, doing homiletics on Sunday. As I copy and paste The Word into Microsoft Word, these verses just smack me in the face: “I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” (Isaiah 48:4,18). Whhhhhaaaat?!?
Yeah, ouch. Nothing quite like seeing my character flaws (well, some of them) spelled out before me. In all honesty, I wondered if changing the font from Arial Bold to a nice, flowing cursive would “soften” the blow. Nope. Font can’t change truth. Changing the font only adds manipulator and indenialcontrolfreak to my list of flaws.
Thankfully I am confident there is hope for my character epitaph. As I cling to Jeremiah 29:11-13 for Camden and Sabrina, I know these promises also apply to me. My story of my life isn’t only what has been, but what will be. I’ve seen what a mess I can make when I choose my own direction. In the last half to my life I pray to have learned my limits, to listen to the lessons, to know that leaning on my own understanding and direction always leads to falling.
“I knew. If only…”, says the Lord. How the truth hurts on an ordinary day…
I have seen how following my own way has wreaked havoc in my life and in the life of my family. I have seen how past choices have scarred my testimony and limited opportunities to minister to others. But I do believe in the days that remain I will see my Lord work through circumstances that once scarred me, and squelched His voice in me, to pave a path of appointment for His purposes in my life. The prayer remains that my character epitaph will be refined and reformed into a shining reflection of Him more than a stone-inscribed memory of me.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. THEN (you mean after I’ve messed it up for myself?) you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me WHEN you seek me (rather than manipulating situations to go how you think they should go) with ALL your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13, emphasis and comments mine.
I don’t know how God will turn around situations I have messed up to bring glory to His Name, but I do know I can’t wait to see how it all works out. “Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob.” They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and water gushed out. -Isaiah 48:20-21
I say, let it flow.
XOXOXXO
