Home Tools for your Journey June 6

Saturday, June 6

I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.
—Isaiah 44:22

We will always "go to the mat"for some people in our lives. People who have so captured our hearts that we will sacrifice anything in order to keep them safe, to be sure they are cared for, to ensure that they know they are loved, to help them become all they can be. If it means that we are inconvenienced on their behalf, so be it.

Our deep love for them is like the air all around us. There is no denying it, no refusal of it, no lessening of it.  The person may be a spouse, a friend, a child, a grandparent, or someone who has touched our soul for other reasons, with needs we cannot ignore. What is clear is that we are their advocate, and
we will stop at nothing to garner their well-being.

We are those people to God. We are redeemed. We have been loved so much by God that God will stop at nothing to ensure that we remain close to God's heart. Redemption isn't based on our ability to perform or achieve. It is always based on the action of love.  

When we know that we are loved that much, when we know that we are redeemed, the way we understand ourselves in this world changes. We no longer need to try to prove ourselves to the Holy One. We no longer need to grasp life like a famished tiger in search of prey. 

We no longer need to fear that who we are is simply not enough. We no longer need to feel the hopelessness of each day passing without meaning or purpose. We are loved. We are
redeemed.  We belong to heaven.

Gracious God, when my heart feels heavy, or my burdens great, or my self-esteem low, remind me that I have an eternal place in your heart.