A Mighty Oak In Process

There are times when I dance JOY-fully in radiant SON-light, Lord!

When I think of how far You have brought me!  From pits beneath valley floors.  Sometimes, to mountain plateaus… to see with Your eyes.  More frequently, through those valleys… with You by my side.  Loving me.  Encouraging me. Carrying me, when my own strength was gone.

Even when I was clueless.  Unaware of Your ever-Presence.  Unnworthy of Your everlasting Love. Forever broken — by the evil of others… and my own.  Hopelessly beyond fixing.  Or so I thought…

“God is our Refuge and Strength, an ever-present Help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1)

The view from the plateau today is breathtaking!   🙂

Even so… There are still times when I struggle to breathe.  When spiritual Alzheimer’s sets in.  When I misplace my God-vision like a lost pair of glasses.

Where did I put my (Your) eyes, Lord?  Why did it take me so long to realize I couldn’t see the tree… much less, the forest?  This latest tree blocking my way?  In this latest forest into which I have foolishly wandered?

Yet here — there, everywhere — You remind me that I was once the tiniest acorn.  And You are doing much more than I could ever imagine… to grow me, one day, into a mighty Oak!

“They will be called Oaks of Righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His spendor.”  (Isaiah 61:4)

Shame is a weighty burden.  A painful, complex combnation of humiliation and distress.  Something very wrong Is happening.  Continues to happen.  Happened long ago.

“Why did this happen to me, Lord?”  “Why couldn’t I stop it?”  “It must have been my fault.”  Questions too heavy for a little girl to carry… without breaking.  Exploding.  Imploding.

You rescued me, Lord!  In one Moment.  In every moment since.

“… the Lord has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives… to comfort all who mourn…:  (Isaiah 61:1-2)

“Amazing Grace… How sweet the sound… I once was lost, but now I’m found!”

Yet the healing in Your Touch comes in layers… like the rings of that Mighty-Oak-in-Process.  Moment-by-moment.  Over a lifetime.  As roots grow deeper and stronger.  And limbs reach wider and higher.

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  (Ephesians 3:17-19)

You’re adding another “ring” to me in this season… aren’t You, Lord?  Help me cooperate with You fully!

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firmly, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  (Galatians 5:1)

“Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion… and everlasting joy will be yours.”  (Isaiah 61:7)

Oh-so-gratefully…

Oh-so-expectantly…

Abba’s Girl

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