NOTE FROM AMY: I write a lot about freedom — and today is a day to participate in freedom. Vote. Don’t forget, and don’t think your vote is useless. It’s a gift you’ve been given, and Jesus taught us to use our gifts, not bury them.
SCRIPTURE: But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. Hosea 2:14 NLT
THOUGHT: I once heard Ray Vander Laan say something like, “If God has you in the desert, don’t run! God takes people to the desert for a reason.” It was a profound moment for me; a Holy Spirit moment.
But for anyone who feels they have spent too much time staring at the same landscape, spiritually speaking, going around and around facing the same issues and patterns—same sand, different day, the questions are achingly present. “When will I ever see the Promised Land?” we groan in lament. “Does God have a purpose for leaving me here in the wilderness?”
When I stopped running, a lot of bad decisions caught up with me. Like the children of Israel, I needed time and sand and heat and drought to understand freedom. When life is barren, you don’t ignore the voice of God, especially when it’s a kind voice–it is the kindness of God, after all, that leads to repentance (Rom. 2:4). For some of us, that kindness comes by way of a voice speaking tenderly in the hot, dry wilderness. It woos, allures, and wins us back.
PRAYER: Oh God, as I consider all the sand I’d like to leave behind, I ask that you help me not run for greener pastures, but still myself and listen for your voice speaking tenderly, and allow you to shape me even here.
Dear Reader,
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ABOUT ME:
Blogger Amy Clemens is the author of Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. In it she explores childhood sexual abuse and how it impacted her faith (or lack thereof) for four decades. You’ll find not only her story, but better yet, the Big Story of God.
Check out Walking When You’d Rather Fly, and learn more about the book and Amy’s other ministries. You will also find her devotional work at Words of Hope.
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