I’m not done with you yet
We met Jim out in the Lost Creek wilderness of Colorado a few weeks ago. He still had about half his teeth, but that didn’t keep him from smiling to the campground he presided over as the official host. His weathered face bore the marks of a hard scrabble life in the Colorado mountains.When I asked Jim about his life, he told me about drying out 13 years earlier. Since then he’d come to know God. He turned around his life. It was as though God said, “I’m not done with you yet.”
A lot of us have gone through a season of depression where we felt so estranged from God that we were ready to give up. The shame of abuse will do that to you. Commit what feels like the unforgivable sin, and you may find yourself racked with regret on the far side of the universe.
But God sees you very differently. The pain you’ve absorbed is his investment in you. The prodigal son’s father gives us a picture of how God feels about us. To be human is to mess up. The Bible is full of flawed people making terrible mistakes. That is the only raw material God has to work with.
The irony is that it’s your mistakes that qualify you for his grace. They are the points of weakness that enable him to show off his strengths. Don’t believe the critics – they don’t speak for God. He’s not done with you yet.
Start by listening to the lyrics of the following song.
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awesome reminder!!
love that video clip! My heart is to see a church where people can be totally honest and transparent about their lives, their past and be totally accepted and loved and encouraged and prayed for with no sense of judgement from others.
I am sure if you got all those guys together from the bible that would be a great place to hang out, a bunch of sinners who know they are sinners, who dont pretend to be anything else but sinners but walk in the grace and acceptance of a Holy God…..wow, what an awesome thought!
Right on. That identity thing again huh? Thanks Seth.
I love it. I love it. I love it.
Fantastic video clip. Made me thank God that He is my Redeemer and there’s nothing in my life He can’t turn around and still love me, want me and use me. Despite how often I feel like He should be done with me, or I feel like giving up on myself, it’s good to be reminded that He who began a good work in me has no intention of giving up on it until it’s complete. He ain’t done with me yet. Thanks Lord.
I love the vagaries in the Old Testament story of Jacob. His lust for power. His bent towards manipulation. His scrambling life where it often felt like he was “one step ahead of the sheriff”. There have been some thunderous seasons in my life where I was sinfully bent on imitating him.
And yet this was the man who wrestled with God and was left with a lovingly permanent limp from the encounter. And it was through this redeemed ragamuffin our Yeshua was ultimately born. The historical line to Jesus was serpentine and had whistle stops in the genetic pool of prostitutes, murdering madness, “holier than thou” hypocrites and the nondescript. The tapestry is ragged and the threads frayed.
We cannot grow in the company of spiritual Machiavellian’s nor by sitting in the seat of the scorners. There is no “real life” living in the Evangelical world of “pretend” where all the women are gorgeous, the men noble and the children above average.
Our salvation– while perfect in every way– sloshed over the sides of a nasty and bitter cup filled with every know sin.
So when we offer the trusting revelation of our struggles to another sister or brother we hope somehow that in that incarnational moment Jesus arrives with a smile…and a hug…and the affirming eyes telling us to go deeper.
I’d rather dive deep into the unknown depths of potential joy than to water ski on placid lakes of bs.
And somehow I think my Savior would–too.
Growing up, many times I have read of the “heroes” of the faith, and how we should imitate their relationship with God. Well, when I “grew” up (not yet according to Debbie)I read the “whole” account of their lives and realized that they were: murderers, adulterers, liars, deceiving, rebellious against God, and really not people I would let my children run around with. So when I read in Hebrews about these characters, I had to really look at how God looks at the heart of man, such as is the case with Samson? He would have been a target on my evangelism list, but not my son’s best friend, and most definitely he would not be allowed to date/court my daughter. Abraham – coward! I can’t imagine Debbie letting me put here off as my sister to “lay” with a man because I was afraid! Rahab! Oh, my gosh…I would have cast devils out of her first, and then watch for true repentance. Noah, I don’t allow my kids to run with drunks! King David, “a man after God’s own heart?” I have seen too many of his kind in ministry and the church – and have always kept my family away from such types.
Now to the heart of the matter – St. Mark of the Cross! Please Lord don’t use modern technology to reveal my heart and mind meditations. I don’t want to be a hero of the faith if you have to put my dirty laundry out on the line for the body of Christ to see. Furthermore, please don’t list my shame to reveal your grace. Please, just give me the grace…
Awesome postings by everyone. Awesome video clip. Things to meditate on…
Great reminder!