Forgive me for the disappearing act. A lot has been happening in my life, and also within me, in these past [too many] months and the words just seemed to be content to reside in my mind . . . until now. I'm a little rusty though, so bear with me as I bumble my way through sharing the latest stirring within me:
"Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good." ~ C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
Like the steady beat of a heart, the words redemption and risk have been resounding in my mind over the course of the last few months. Redemption. Risk. Redemption. Risk. Redemption from time that seems as though it were lost, as if whatever it was spent on was all for naught.
Risking my comfort, my contentedness, my plans, in order to live life to the full.
This season of life has made me ever aware that God is in fact good. Is a life in pursuit of Him and His will going to be safe? At times, yes. More often than not, no. But in forgoing the guarantee of safety one has the opportunity to step into a life that is much, much richer and fuller. A life that is marked by new beginning after new beginning. A life that beckons us to live beyond our meager ideas of fulfillment, and to step [courageously and trustingly] into God's far grander plans for us.
One of the musicians that I enjoy has a song that reiterates these same kind of sentiments. Needless to say, the song has been adopted as a sort of theme song for this current season of life. The part that resonates the most with me is this:
"I wanna see what you're made of
Get up and fight, you know you should
Try, there's nothing you should be afraid of . . .
This ain't safe but it's gonna be good." [Matt Wertz's Gonna Be Good]
Per 2 Timothy 1:7, God has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity, rather, He wants to see what we're made of, what He knows we are meant to be/do, and He has given us a spirit of power to help us get there.
Will we allow God to redeem us? Will we dare to live unsafely? To trust that God is good? My hope and prayer, not only for myself, but for all of us is that our response to all of those questions will be resounding yeses.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." ~ John 10:10
