I have come that they may have life,
and that they have it more abundantly. (John 10:10b)
Has God
ever surprised you by doing something for you that you didn’t even realize you
needed?
In a
previous post I mentioned the fact that there was a fire on the north side of
the city where I live in which over 500 homes we destroyed. And that we had a fire last year a fire
destroyed almost 400 homes. They are
still picking up the pieces from this year’s fire, getting things cleaned up,
repairing what can be fixed, figuring out the best way to go about rebuilding
what was lost. The area affected by the
fire last year is on the road to recovery, homes being rebuilt, grasses and
such growing, people’s lives returning to normal.
I remember
how I felt both last year and again this year while the fires were
burning. It is a different feeling when
a disaster happens where you live as opposed to something you see or hear on
the news. It affects the whole
community, whether you are directly affected or not.
Every year
in August the local Home Builders Association sponsors what is called the
Parade of Homes. The Parade consists of
about 35 homes ranging from smaller track homes through larger custom built
homes. You can tour through these homes;
see some of the latest in construction styles, decorating, etc.
A few of
the homes in the Parade this year had been destroyed in last year’s fire and have
since been rebuilt. While looking at
these homes the last thing I expected was an encounter with God.
Jesus told
us that He came to give us abundant life.
Abundance means to be overly plentiful or overflowing and since God is
good, this abundance can’t be anything other than good. If we need something, God wants to provide.
If we are hurting, God wants to help heal us.
Even if we don’t even realize we need anything, God knows and will
provide what we need.
David
tells us about God answering prayers for healing in Psalm 30:2, “O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You
healed me.” Along with many others I
have been praying for those affected by both of the fires. Prayers for strength, healing, and restoration. Little did I know I was also praying for
myself. I had not realized there was a
small part of my heart that needed healing, but God knew.
Emotions
were high on the opening day when I toured the homes that had been destroyed
last year. A couple had small displays
of things that were recovered from the ashes of the previous home, in another
they were showing a video with images of before and after the fire and during
the rebuilding of the house. As I toured
the houses I felt a heaviness in my heart being lifted. Even with the heaviness lifting I didn’t
realize what had happened until I started thinking about over the next couple
days.
Isn’t God
amazing? You never know exactly when or
how He is going to do something and sometimes He catches you by surprise and
meets you where you least expect it. I
have looked back to when this happened a few weeks ago and can’t help but feel
the wonder as I contemplate a God who loves me so much He wants to meet me
where I am and help make me whole. Not only does he want to make me whole, He
does it with style!
Open
yourself to receive what God wants to give you.
Let Him step in and fill the voids, to heal the hurts and the pain. Even the things that are buried deep and you
want to forget. God wants to make you
whole and give you an amazing life. You
won’t know how or when He will respond but from time to time He will show up
where you least expect it and say, “Watch this!
This is just for you!”
