Where we are born…

I have noticed that when we go through hard times, we often withdraw emotionally and physically. Yet, in our hiding places, God is working. He talks to our hearts. He reasons with our heads. He is training us in the silence until we are ready.

It is then we can emerge as unexpected heroes. We have overcome ourselves. We have dared to move out despite the fears we might carry. And we discovered that with God we can move on – step by step – in his strength.

(Based on the story of Gideon in Judges 6 – where he hides in a winepress and God calls him for there.)

Our everyday resurrections…

My great comfort is this – our emotional deaths don’t have to be permanent. The privilege to speak, to choose, to work, to love, even if we have lost them, can be regained. The only thing is that in our experienced darknesses, we will change.

One of my frequent go-to verses is Isaiah 45:3, ‘I will give you the treasures of darkness and the riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.’* For it is in our darknesses that God opens our eyes.

The words I once wanted to speak, I don’t have to anymore. I have different words. My choices are different now. How I work and love changes… Emotional deaths, to put it simply, reposition our lives.

*Berean Standard Bible translation

(photo by Alex Azabache: https://www.pexels.com)