{Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.} - Jesus, John 14:27
I come from a very broken family. In this season of my life, I am seeing my own belief of lies from that brokenness spring up in various relationships - especially with my sweet boyfriend. Over and over again, throughout the course of my life, I have seen numerous people - whose blood has a lot of similarities with mine - come in and out. I've been left behind/passed over on a lot of different occasions and have felt unwanted quite a bit (see - there's a lie right there...unwanted.). When things got hard, I've seen people leave. When things got heated, words cut deep, wounding my heart, leaving me bleeding. I've also done quite a bit of wounding (I'm not innocent, friends.). Words fly like arrows fast released from a bow in this type of dark brokenness. I've felt the sting of feeling like an orphan, heard the Enemy hiss, whispering words of unbelief into my already lie-prone heart.
I'm not telling you this so that you'll have pity on me. Please, save that for someone else. I'm telling you so that I can explain why the verse you see at the top of this page has been turning over and over again in my heart since I read it earlier today.
Jesus is different. This is true for you, too, dear reader. Can you just listen...real close...hear Him say it: I do not give to you as the world gives.
Find it hard to wrap your heart around that Truth? Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one. But, do you know the beautiful thing about Truth? It's still true, no matter how we feel about it.
I look at my life, and while there is tremendous pain and brokenness, there are also depths of joy that I struggle to put into words. There is a deep beauty that literally blows me away. Hear me, friend, look me in the eye...
Jesus will not leave you like your Dad (or uncle, or grandad, or husband, or fill-in-the-blank) did.
Jesus will not give you empty words of promise like the day when that family member (or friend, or significant other...)told you they were coming through for you and then they didn't.
Jesus will not deceive you, using you only for His own advantage, like the (dare I say it) man who told you that he loved you only to use you.
Jesus will not duck out when things get so hard that you do not think you can even lift your head up anymore.
He. Does. Not. Give. As. The. World. Gives.
You do not have to live in your past. Neither do I. Ever again.
This is not the past. This is redemption. Believe me, I know it's hard. I am slam in the middle of it. But, do you see the next words from John 14:27?
"Do not let you hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
Can't you just hear His gentle voice, see His eyes filling with compassion as He whispers over us? See, though, that this is a command. Because Jesus is different, not giving as the world gives, we need not be afraid.
This Jesus, this Savior, is in it through the thick and thin. He is not afraid of our darkness. His scars are the marks of our redemption....He sure isn't gonna stop now. He will finish what He started.
We are being redeemed.
