I’ve been sitting here for a while trying to find the right words to begin this letter to you. I’ve been typing and erasing lines, searching for the perfect way to start. Since not one of my attempts at a creative spin on things felt right, I am going to keep it simple and just say what I feel… because maybe you feel this way, too.
Things are messed up.
I don’t have to go into all of the details. You see the news just like I do. You can hear the non-stop noise. Everywhere, there are lies. Everywhere, there’s anger. You are witnessing, just like I am, the day after day after day cycles of broken places, broken people, broken hearts. We can see lust and greed trying to destroy generations ~ our own, our children, their children. And if it isn’t the larger world around us that breaks our hearts, it’s the pain in our own lives. Who doesn’t know someone struggling with disease? Who doesn’t know someone overwhelmed by a hard season? Who hasn’t struggled, failed, lost? Change is all around us and it can feel like there is nothing left for us to depend on, nothing steady in all the world.
It can make a person tired to their bones and filled up with sorrow to think of all that is wrong.
But God still offers the same invitation to us that He offered long ago to another generation living in this broken world: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16)
In the middle of this ever-shifting world, there remains a right way, a good way, an unchanging way. Even in the middle of the chaos, there has always been a promise of peace. God has always reached out to His children to show us a better way ~ HIS way.
We may live on an earth stricken by sin, but its power to bind us has been broken by our Savior. Things are messed up, yes, but in the middle of the mess there remains One who is making new creations out of us, setting us free, bringing beauty from ashes, working things together for our good, transforming despair into praise. (Isaiah 61)
With all that is wrong, He is the One who can and will make all things right.
The power of God always has been and always will be stronger than anything sin unleashes. Where there is darkness, His light overcomes. Where there is sickness, He is healer. Where there is pain, He is comfort. Where there is repentance, He forgives. The love of God always has and always will be faithful to us. God always has and always will be true and holy. The heart of God always has been and always will be good. He is the One that does NOT change. (Hebrews 13:8) He is the One we CAN count on. He is steady. He does not betray ~ there’s no deceit in Him.
We can walk through hard times, we can walk through good times, we can walk through change after change after change – and He will be constant, He will be the One holding us up through every step that we take. His Kingdom is joy, peace, and righteousness in the Holy Spirit ~ and this is our inheritance right now, no matter the surrounding circumstances of our lives.
But how do we do this? How do we find this way and keep our feet moving forward?
We have to know Him… know Him for ourselves… and He has not made this hard for us. He reveals Himself through His Word, through the life of Jesus Christ, through His Holy Spirit that dwells within us. He wants us to know Him. If we seek Him, we will find Him. He said so Himself.
Our part is to look for Him. Our part is to pick up this living book, the Bible, and read His story. This is our GOOD news. We learn about who He is… we see His faithfulness through all the generations… and we learn about who we are. This book is where we learn about His purpose and intentions for us, for the world, for our future. This is where we remember what He can do and what He has promised that He will do… when we read His book, we remember His wonders, His miracles, His judgments. This is where we learn about the faith of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, the disciples ~ faith that hears ‘Follow Me’ and picks up our feet to GO (even to the unknown and the uncomfortable). This is where we see how Jesus loves and learn how we are supposed to love each other.
Reading this book is how our hearing becomes attuned to His voice, teaches us how to live, causes our faith to flourish, our fears to fall away, gives our feet steadfast truth to stand upon. His Word is our weapon, the sword of the Spirit, that has been given to us to fight and overcome the darkness.
I want to remember, again, His story. I want to see, again, His unfolding plan of deliverance from Genesis to Revelation. I am asking for the ancient path and looking for His good way. So I’m beginning again ~ at the beginning… and I’m wondering if you might want to come with me.
I want to travel this way with you… so I’ll be posting a short section of Scripture for us to read together, starting with Genesis, and sometimes offering a few simple thoughts with it. Today’s post, by far, should be the longest one for quite a while. What I hope is to focus on what matters ~ His words, not mine. What I hope is that we can talk ~ you and I ~ about what His words mean to us. I hope we can be an encouragement to each other along the way, sisters and brothers following in our Father’s footsteps, remembering His words together.
I know ~ it’s a big book. So I don’t know how long this might take or how it will all go… but if we are walking together, step by step, to know Him more? Every moment will be worthwhile.
I’m considering this an adventure, a journey… will you embark on it, too? And will you pray, with me, that the Holy Spirit will be our teacher and guide every step of the way?
It is so simple, I know, but I believe with all my heart that it is one of the most important things we can do… let’s come together and read His Word.
Are you in?
With love,
Christie
https://sobeloved.me/2016/09/06/together-we-follow-genesis-1/
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