While we were in Africa a few weeks ago,
the Lord spoke a powerful word to my heart.
We had gotten up at the crack of dawn to
meet up with some of the sweetest little
street boys who ever lived.
We love loving on them
and no doubt, they love it too.
That particular day there were many heavy
things on my mind.
Sleep had not come easily.
While sitting talking and loving on the little boys,
I happened to look down
and there I saw it.
And instantly the Lord whispered,
“Even in the midst of yuk,
I am at work.
I make the most beautiful things
in the midst of dark pain.”
It was so stunning.
The contrast, no doubt, undeniable.
The sewer oozing with mud, grit, garbage and yuk…
yet,
there,
poking out…
was the most magnificent sign of new life.
Brilliant green.
Only the Master Creator could orchestrate such
life in the midst of this.
I moved around for the most profound angle
I could use to capture the Artist’s tangible illustration.
Although nothing immediately changed,
my heart knew.
He was at work.
He is at work.
He doesn’t take a break.
He doesn’t put us on hold.
He never sleeps.
He’s always working.
He hasn’t forgotten.
He’s still moving.
In fact your {and my} situation is on
His mind right now.
He’s going to show up in ways that
we couldn’t have dreamed.
He makes all things new.
And He never, ever shrugs and says,
“It’s hopeless.”
“….My Father is always at his work…”
John 5:17 ~b~
God bless you for sharing this Linny, its beautiful and just what I needed right now. Gave me God bumps!
I had such a sense of urgency that I needed to write that yesterday. Apparently it was a word from the Lord that many needed to hear. Thank you Lord for His faithfulness.
Oh my sweet Linny. Your words were straight from the heart of God to my heart. I needed this so badly tonight. I am stretched like a rubber band that is just hanging on by a tiny bit of the rubber, about to snap. There are so many things going on that I won't go into but just know that your words and His words are such an encouragement and your photo is a perfect example of making beauty from ashes. I pray that He will soon give me some beauty. I need it!
Martha, my dear friend over there in you-know-where…He is there too. You have courageously stepped into unchartered waters – I am so proud of you. I pray, right this moment, for God's peace to permeate your being and for a supernatural move of God on your behalf. He is faithful. Even when it's hard to see, He's moving. Love from the desert to you.
Beautiful post! I will never forget standing on the platform at the train station in Romania in1998 knowing God had answered "no" to my desire to move their and work with the orphans. "But who will take care of the orphans?!" I cried. "I will" was God's solid reply. Although he had said no to Romania, God has allowed us to work and help orphans in other places. We cheer on and support those called to the country we could not go and continue to do the work he has set before us.
Thank you! Encouraging words and beautiful photos! A student sat in my office after class today and poured out her almost unbearable life story — for three hours — and I have never been so heartbroken over a student's story. Students have told me about being eight years old and calling 911 because of what Daddy was doing to Mommy in the bathroom, and the cops have taken Daddy away in cuffs, never to return to the family. Students have told me about becoming an alcoholic with Dad and going to parties with him. Students have told me about learning in court that Mom has moved to another state, about not having food in the house to eat, about being thrown out of the house when they were in third or fourth grade, about being beaten for using the bathroom and accidentally waking up Mom from her drunken stupor, about being told that they are hated and unwanted, that they were never wanted in the first place, that they are another man's child and he doesn't want them. On and on the stories go, and they break my heart, every one. But nothing has paralleled the suffering this young woman described to me today. I wanted to ask, "Oh, Father, where are you in the midst of this?" The woman herself told me about unpleasant jobs she had taken to chastise herself and earn God's favor, and how she had considered suicide, even very recently, because maybe God would snatch her back from the brink, and then she would know He is really there and really loves her. I was devastated by her story, though I haven't lived a moment of it. I need to see that little green plant sprouting up through the sewer of life, and more importantly, my student needs to see it. She needs the hope that the God Who never sleeps and Who keeps on working can bring forth something beautiful from even the worst of life. She is a full adult, an employee, and a single mother, not a child starving alone in the streets, but she has been abandoned by every person who has ever mattered to her, and right now she needs a reason to keep living.
I will pray for your student. He *is* still there. Even though it appears He hasn't been. And truly, God is going to use her, if she yields to Him in a powerful way. He promises to bring beauty out of ashes. I'm living proof.
I hope that you are right, Linny!
I *know* this is truth. God's word speaks it over and over and over and over and over…
Powerful.
I love when He gives us reminders like that!
He walks with us in the details of life, giving hope and peace. Thanks for faithfully sharing God's truths. This one is simple and yet profound for me today. It contents one's soul, once again, in the One who sees all, knows all, and is constantly working in and around us for His glory in these lives He has graciously granted us. What a delight it is to enjoy Him!
Looking forward to January!
So looking forward to January. xo
Holding onto the promise the He does not leave us or forsake us, ever. Needed to keep remembering that last summer during my mom's painful and heartbreaking illness and death. Needing to remember it now as we are VERY close to bringing home our Grace and all of her medical issues that will arise.
love,
janet and gang
Beautiful! He is so beautiful and He always swoops in at the right moment to allow us to see that! : )
Thank you so much for this post! Reading this gave me the chills…..and then such comfort. He is at work on our behalf! Always!!!
He is ALWAYS at work on your behalf. Even when it's hard to see.
Thank you for this. I'm at peace right this moment after being reminded that He has my back! Bless you for writing this post!
Isaiah 26:3 one of my favorite verses ever. And yes, I have spoken it aloud, hundreds of times, on one single day. Because I couldn't have functioned without doing that.
My oh my….I told God earlier that my situation (You know, LInny) with hubby that left me impossible to reconcile and restore.
Then I open your post!!! I have to cling to the Lord, because my situation with hubby gets worse as the days go by…..So, the Lord
must be working behind the scenes in my life, as I see nothing….
Just my thoughts…
Love from NC
He *is* working. His word promises. Remember? being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. He can't ever go back on His word. He does not lie. Ever.
Thank you Linny…That picture is now on my kitchen windowsill. So need that visual reminder right now!