Beloved - Part Ten
Beloved - dearly loved
At the start of each day, in the void of morning hours, silence is pierced by the sweet songs of a multitude of birds. The robins song is amplified by the golden finch, which then is echoed by a house sparrow. The red wing black bird quickly makes his song known and before long a symphony of music has greeted the new morning.
Oftentimes, my days are filled with the sweetness of each new morning but as my day progresses the tenderness of the new day falls away to the demands, pressures, and complexities of life. Lately this pattern has emerged on a number of my days. In these last few months since blogging, we've seen so many changes. Many uncertainties, sicknesses, job loss, mental health crises, pain, hurt and anxieties. We have all been affected by one or some of these listed items. It's easy to go down the road of what ifs and if onlys. We replay scenarios and situations over and over in our minds. I am well aware of these patterns and fall prey to them from time to time.
A few nights ago, I was burdened with some decisions that we need to make as family and I could't shoulder it anymore. I feel asleep with this prayer on my mind, "God, I don't know what to do, make your will clear to me." I submitted and gave everything over to Him in prayer. I feel asleep with these words repeating over and over. That night, not only did I have the best sleep, my dreams were filled with one word that I believe God gave to me.
In my dream, my right forearm had words inscribed on it in a beautiful script. Beloved. These words were drawn on my arm by a hand that I know belonged to Jesus. He put those words in my dream and on my body. Inscribed in permanent ink. Not to be taken away by anyone. Not to be erased by anything. Beloved.
I woke up with this word on my lips and felt a pull to go to His word to see where this word is found. I dug out a few Bibles in different versions and set out to search. In the NIV version, other than in the book of Song of Songs, the word beloved only occurs two other times in the Bible. The passage that I was drawn to is from Deuteronomy 33:12 "Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one who the Lord does rests between his shoulders."
It wasn't so much his will that God made clear to me in my dream but his truth for me. Beloved. Dearly Loved. When I hear dearly loved I think of a tender, heartfelt, strong hug. I love being able to look at so many different versions of the Bible. The Message is what I turn to when I want to read a more poetic version of the Bible. The same passage in the Message reads, "God's beloved; God's permanent residence. Encircled by God all day long, with whom God is at home." Because I am God's beloved, he encircles me, he is my permanent residence, my refuge, my security, safety, and dwelling.
I've had to face some pretty hard things in my life. Heartbreak. Addictions. Marriage difficulties. Job loss. Health issues. Church pains. Anxiety. Gossip. Attacks. There were many, many times when all I wanted was to escape it all. To give up and pass the torch. I wrestled with questions like, "Why me?" "Why now?" "Isn't this enough?" "What's wrong with me, that all these things are happening to me?" In and through each trial, I've learned that I always have something more to learn. God is continually working in me, being gracious to me when I am wrong. He's weeding out the bad and replacing it with his goodness. He's teaching me and showing me what it means to be dearly loved. He's showing me that He is enough. In all of it there is God.
I listened to a sermon this week that has re-examining again. In his sermon, David Jeremiah talks about how he has daily journals and they go back to the early 90's. In these journals he records all that the Lord has done for him. His gratitudes and joys. Simple things and big things. He shared that we humans have a innate ability to forget the goodness of our God and we tend to focus only on our present calamities. Having a goodness journal to look back at, and to remember, helps put so many things into bigger contexts.
Having the word Beloved inscribed onto my arm is that daily reminder of the goodness of God. Looking at that word I know that God wants me to know that he has me encircled as his Beloved forever. No matter what the day throws at me, I can circle back to that foundation of beloved.
Know that you are His beloved. Today and always. You can turn to Him always in every trouble, and in every joy, for you are his dearly loved.
At the start of each day, in the void of morning hours, silence is pierced by the sweet songs of a multitude of birds. The robins song is amplified by the golden finch, which then is echoed by a house sparrow. The red wing black bird quickly makes his song known and before long a symphony of music has greeted the new morning.
Oftentimes, my days are filled with the sweetness of each new morning but as my day progresses the tenderness of the new day falls away to the demands, pressures, and complexities of life. Lately this pattern has emerged on a number of my days. In these last few months since blogging, we've seen so many changes. Many uncertainties, sicknesses, job loss, mental health crises, pain, hurt and anxieties. We have all been affected by one or some of these listed items. It's easy to go down the road of what ifs and if onlys. We replay scenarios and situations over and over in our minds. I am well aware of these patterns and fall prey to them from time to time.
A few nights ago, I was burdened with some decisions that we need to make as family and I could't shoulder it anymore. I feel asleep with this prayer on my mind, "God, I don't know what to do, make your will clear to me." I submitted and gave everything over to Him in prayer. I feel asleep with these words repeating over and over. That night, not only did I have the best sleep, my dreams were filled with one word that I believe God gave to me.
In my dream, my right forearm had words inscribed on it in a beautiful script. Beloved. These words were drawn on my arm by a hand that I know belonged to Jesus. He put those words in my dream and on my body. Inscribed in permanent ink. Not to be taken away by anyone. Not to be erased by anything. Beloved.
I woke up with this word on my lips and felt a pull to go to His word to see where this word is found. I dug out a few Bibles in different versions and set out to search. In the NIV version, other than in the book of Song of Songs, the word beloved only occurs two other times in the Bible. The passage that I was drawn to is from Deuteronomy 33:12 "Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one who the Lord does rests between his shoulders."
It wasn't so much his will that God made clear to me in my dream but his truth for me. Beloved. Dearly Loved. When I hear dearly loved I think of a tender, heartfelt, strong hug. I love being able to look at so many different versions of the Bible. The Message is what I turn to when I want to read a more poetic version of the Bible. The same passage in the Message reads, "God's beloved; God's permanent residence. Encircled by God all day long, with whom God is at home." Because I am God's beloved, he encircles me, he is my permanent residence, my refuge, my security, safety, and dwelling.
I've had to face some pretty hard things in my life. Heartbreak. Addictions. Marriage difficulties. Job loss. Health issues. Church pains. Anxiety. Gossip. Attacks. There were many, many times when all I wanted was to escape it all. To give up and pass the torch. I wrestled with questions like, "Why me?" "Why now?" "Isn't this enough?" "What's wrong with me, that all these things are happening to me?" In and through each trial, I've learned that I always have something more to learn. God is continually working in me, being gracious to me when I am wrong. He's weeding out the bad and replacing it with his goodness. He's teaching me and showing me what it means to be dearly loved. He's showing me that He is enough. In all of it there is God.
I listened to a sermon this week that has re-examining again. In his sermon, David Jeremiah talks about how he has daily journals and they go back to the early 90's. In these journals he records all that the Lord has done for him. His gratitudes and joys. Simple things and big things. He shared that we humans have a innate ability to forget the goodness of our God and we tend to focus only on our present calamities. Having a goodness journal to look back at, and to remember, helps put so many things into bigger contexts.
Having the word Beloved inscribed onto my arm is that daily reminder of the goodness of God. Looking at that word I know that God wants me to know that he has me encircled as his Beloved forever. No matter what the day throws at me, I can circle back to that foundation of beloved.
Know that you are His beloved. Today and always. You can turn to Him always in every trouble, and in every joy, for you are his dearly loved.
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