... earthquakes and after shocks...

God wants you totally free so you can be totally His. We were created for dominion, multiplication, and order. But when Adam and Eve lost sight of who they were and grasped at something they were not to have (equality with God), these things were forfeited. Domination, division, and chaos replaced what was good.....

read this today.. and it fit really well with what I have been thinking about...

as His followers, we are not only called to live out His order the way it was planned, since the Fall it also means to be who He enables us to be in the chaos that replaced what He had planned for His creation..

50 years old now, a Christ follower for 20 years, I have been observing that the older I get the more scars there are... hurts and conflicts happen... that's true for all of us,
as obedient Christians we ask for forgiveness, forgive and continue to be about the ministry of reconciliation..
this means to accept the consequences of another person's sin.. living with it sometimes on a daily basis, without holding it against the one who committed the sins against us..

healing follows obedience, but scars, consequences, they remain... they do not rob us of the joy that is ours as we walk with Him... but they are there..

just yesterday, someone who almost 5 years ago inflicted the most intense pain, responded to a reaching out in love by me with a full out attack... committed to extending grace this was my only response... it hurt, but once again, I accepted the pain... responded in love ...  which now is leaving me with the task of taking thoughts captive, not dwelling on what was thrown at me, but rather letting it go. trusting my Father to heal the newly inflicted wounds..

He is faithful. I am fixing my eyes on Him while trying to find my footing... I never lost it, but the after shocks of the earth quake still rattle my heart... the chaos.. the division... the brokenness that characterizes life on this earth keeps me in total dependence on Him ... until one day He will take me home and paradise will be restored .... good thing I can be sure of that!!!!