One Step Closer

The appointment was scheduled for 4pm. Pick up time was 3pm. She was supposed to call me with the address so I could leave my office by 2pm. As the hour approached, my heart began to sink, she wasn't going to call, we weren't going to make the appointment and she would continue on in the life.

Discouragement is peering around the door, waiting for the right moment to strike. Seeking the perfect time to tell me that nothing ever changes, that I should just give up. But then I remember... I remember the last two years of knowing her. I remember that at first we had short conversations on the street, which led to text messages, which led to phone calls, which led to long talks at McDonalds in the middle of the week, which led to making appointments to get the help she needed. And though she isn't there yet, she is one step closer and that is the miracle. Yes, the miracle is in the end result of finding freedom but the miracle is also every step along the way.

God has been encouraging my heart with this verse lately, "Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him." Isaiah 30:18 As believers we think a lot about waiting on the Lord, it's all over the scriptures and we all have seasons where we are called to wait. But what we think about less often, is how God is waiting for us. The beginning of this verse tells us that God is waiting for us, to show us grace and mercy. It gives the picture that there are gifts of grace waiting for us if we will just come to Him in humility, with empty and open hands, ready to receive.

You can imagine that after suffering abuse from family, from strangers, being taken from her home, being trafficked and exploited, her perceptions of God would be skewed. She would see Him as punishing or distant, as withholding or unloving. As I praise God that she is in fact one step closer, I pray that she will begin to see God for who He is; a God of justice, who longs to be gracious to her. That in learning who He is and believing, she will be able to take another step, and another, and another...

Steadfast Love

I've been reading the Psalms a lot lately, especially ones about giving thanks. One common phrase I noticed is the references to the "steadfast love of the Lord". It seems that though everything else in life is like shifting sand one thing remains, the steadfast love of the Lord. The Lord will love you and demonstrate his love for you continuously, He is worthy to be praised and the one upon whom we should set our hopes.

My life has been pretty chaotic lately with a lot of ups and downs, sorrows and joys, certainty and unknowns.  There are two things I have felt the Lord speaking to my heart one is to wait on Him and the other is to give thanks.

I don't really have a lot more to say on this but His word does...

"For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice and the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord....the counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations...the Lord looks down from heaven; He sees all the children of man from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds...behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His steadfast love, that He may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in." Psalm 33

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so...He led them by a straight way til the reached a city to dwell in. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things...He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love...He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love." Psalm 107

"From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for the one who waits for him. You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways" Isaiah 64:4 (I know this isn't a Psalm but It's the verse the Lord gave me for this year and seems fitting here as well :) )

And finally one of my favorite songs, Psalm 145. He is worthy to be praised...