#15 Lift your eyes as if to signal through scores of generations: I am changed. I am both forgiven and forgiving. Genesis 33:5 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself
Whether it was restraining grace, redeeming grace, or resisting grace, Esau and Jacob met and greeted as friends. There's no addressing the awful animosity. They only outdo one another in showing honor through gifts and manpower. The wrestling Jacob must have truly met with God who empowers him to trust in this situation of 400 men, of a sudden, escorting his estranged brother. If Jacob had fears, he faced them square on. Seriously. What a story. And in Gen 33:5, Esau "lifts his eyes" as if to signal throughout the scores of generations, I am changed; I am new; I am both forgiven and forgiving. The echo rings to today's world. I lift my eyes to the mountains from where my help comes from. And I pray like that watchtower Jacob trusted in that we all be friends. It's what I want more than anything. I could only hope that people were not mad at me. My arms are open wide. I'll never stop trusting in this life. And we will all live together in peace in the next one. Written with tears streaming down.
While John in the Book of Matthew in 11:3 is still asking - "Are you the One we've been expecting or are we still waiting?" John asks the question from a dark damp dungeon---a prison cell for preaching truth. But it's Jesus' reply knowing the rest of the story that grips me this day. "Go to the prison and tell John: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side." We know the rest of the story in Matt 14: 11-12...John's head would be carried on a platter at Herod's birthday party at the request of Herodian and her daughter. John wasn't healed or saved from a horrendous death. John knew something I don't know as he wrestled through Jesus leaving him from prison cell to prison cell. Yet John was free. When I lost one of my babies to miscarriage, Elisabeth Elliot wrote me the words of this passage.
Are you burned out with what God is asking of you? Are you worn out with your life, your family, your friends, your ministry? Matt 11:28-30 - "Come to Me. Get away with Me and you'll recover your life. How do you get away with Jesus? He will show you how to take a real rest. "Walk with Me and work with Me---watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of Grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
PHOTO: The city where I live I’ve spilt a few tears in these waters.
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