As I wake up each day and remind myself who I am in Christ, God is giving me great joy and much needed grace to get through a difficult season of being separated by a vast ocean from our daughters. He’s encouraging me to find my life in him and who he says I am rather than in my circumstances.
The foundation of God's redeeming love guarantees that we won't drown in sorrows and reminds us that we’re loved with an everlasting love, even when we can't see it, sense it or feel it (Jer 31:3). We’re not alone. Christ is in us, with us, he’s gone before us and he’s endured every temptation so that he's able to sympathize with our weaknesses (Heb 4:15). We can go to him in our pain, ask him for help, and cry our eyes out if we need to. He knows what it feels like to be abandoned and lonely on this earth and he understands. He hears all our cries and sees our tears (2 Kgs 20:5).
If we’re Christians, we are children of the King (2 Cor 6:18) – we’re valuable, cherished, deeply loved, significant, gifted, created with a purpose. We’re completely forgiven of our past, present and future sins; we’re declared righteous (Col 2:14). He’s given us a new heart (Eze 36:26) and a new purpose and has established plans for our life that no one can destroy (Jer 29:11). We can’t be removed from his presence by any situation or circumstance (Rom 8:38-39). Our future with him is secure. NO ONE can snatch us out of his hands (Jn 10:28). We’re forever loved, forever forgiven, forever saved. We can rejoice in these wonderful truths in the midst of our sorrows (2 Cor 6:10). We're in a fallen world that's bound to disappoint. But we belong to a faithful God who will never fail us or forsake us (Heb 13:5). And to that we can shout hallelujah!
