Redeemed

 Welcome back to guest blogger Samantha LaPierre. Read on to see what she has learned about God Redeeming the wreckage of the past. 

I keep starting and stopping searching for words that are not there to express things that vanish the moment you try to pin them down. They seem so sacred that to capture them would be nearly irreverent and blasphemous. Some moments, it seems, belong only to the moment in which they were birthed and are buried before the next. Bursts and flashes of creation are complete in themselves. How could I express that?

Sometimes I could sit and breathe and bask in the nothingness, the dreaming that occurs as it dwells in all of the possibility that the void contains. I can hold this space just briefly to quiet the chattering in my mid. The silence takes the roots of these and turns over earth inside my soul, so that I can grow something beautiful. I can create something I never could have on my own. I can feel my chest begin to calm. A feeling like a raging hurricane suddenly stopped.

At first I felt like I had died, like the lack of conflict was death, not peace. I was used to just surviving, getting by using anxiety as the source I used to me forward. To let myself take the weighted responsibility of owning my life would mean I would have to step into the authority of my own power. Actually it was not my own power, but the power entrusted to me by God by the Holy Spirit. I didn’t know how to claim it. I had nothing but failed attempts, a dysfunctional emotional body and a lack of guidance. I had no one to teach me who to be whole, but I quickly taught myself to be broken and bitter. I can’t pinpoint or understand how or when the depth of my soul surrendered to the surface all the treasures that I had assumed were lost forever. Lost when my vessel was tossed and wrecked time and time again, breaking and sinking like the pearl of the grace that came with a great cost. God has called these treasures out of their grave. He came walking on the water to help me see their beauty and unseen worth. He said to me, “these are the treasures you take with you from this life to the next.

As I wrote this these pictures played on the screen in my mind.

A pretty new ship setting off as dark clouds rolled in. As it set sail, it passed the safe zone and violent waves and winds capsized it, breaking it into splinters.

Another boat, not so new sits hesitant to leave. It didn’t sail long and was abandoned with its cargo. The captain and crew decided they would rather take their chances and float. Over and over this story replayed and no one dived to reclaim what was  lost.

Then the ocean floor began to shift. The tides and currents changed and the surface was hit by a tsunami. The ocean became an empty grave. I could see Him jump in the water and lift me out - resuscitating me and reviving my heart. I coughed cried and sputtered to take the next breath on my own. He wiped my eyes and my face. Then he lifted me to my feet and we were standing on the water together. He picks up stones, treasures and a bluepring. No. It is a complete pardon. 4 beautiful words. All has been forgiven.

I see a trunk full of books that don’t have words yet. “Write” he said without saying. “These are the tablets of your heart. He shows me a gold heart shaped locket with a mustard seed in one side and “to thine own self be true, on the other. I can’t help but smile. He had faith in me the whole time. At the end of this I come back to myself and I want to dance and cry and tell everyone about the way, in just a moment, God could reveal Himself to me. I don’t need to be spectacular. I only need to make myself be still long enough to release what it is in my mind

 

Tapestry

Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.  Galatians 6:2

When I was a teenager, we spent time on the Navajo Reservation in Kinlichee, Arizona. We were sponsoring a vacation Bible School and gospel meeting. The Indian women made us fry bread, beans and stew and we ate under a brush arbor that we watched the men build. A quarter mile from where we camped was the chapter house. It was a combination office, shower facility and gift shop. The shop had beautiful crafts, including dolls and jewelry. My favorite thing was the handmade rugs. They were woven on traditional looms. Yarn was strung vertically on the loom and then passed over one thread and under the next. At the end of each row the yarn was pressed down to tighten the weave. The bright colored yarn made intricate patterns and the rugs were strong and durable.

 In the strange and uncertain times we live in, Christians need each other. When we are in fellowship our lives are woven together. Our different gifts and experiences, when they are combined, make a beautiful tapestry of God’s grace and increase the strength of each individual. We are much less vulnerable to outside attacks.

Ecclesiastes 4 9-12 says this.

Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

In Galatians 6:2, Paul encourages us to bear one another’s burdens, and in First Corinthians 12 he describes the way we are many members but form one body with Christ being the head.

Many other verses discuss the idea of the importance of fellowship and love. Not only does it benefit us, but also glorifies God and sets an example for those outside the fellowship.

You are a treasured part of the tapestry of my life. Your love and strength make me a better me. I am so glad, my beautiful sister, that my life is woven with yours.

 

Where the spirit of the lord is there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17) It was in the mailbox – the dreaded red card. A traffic ticket from 5 years earlier had slipped my mind. The city needed money and was having a warrant roundup. My husband suggested that I just sit it out, but I was working full time. His friend said that I could go in and talk to them and set it up to come in and sit it out on the weekend. Well, he was wrong. I got to the office to talk to them and they said I couldn’t do that. They handcuffed me in front of everyone in the office. I called my husband and told him what was going on. I went through the whole ordeal of fingerprints and picture and then was put in the holding tank which was packed. I was freezing and curled up in a corner. I asked for a blanket and they said no. I was holding it together but just barely. It was a fascinating slice of humanity. People came and went to see the judge. Supper, such as it was came and went. I cried a lot. The others started talking, asking each other why they were there. One said, “I robbed the 7-11” Another was there for prostitution and a third was there for assault. They looked at me and asked why I was there. Bursting into tears, I said, “A traffic ticket!” They all agreed that it was not fair. Night time was worse. The shower was right next to the holding cell and was very loud. There were people being brought down to shower at 2 am. People were being brought in all night long. Many of them were screaming at the police and each other. Finally about mid morning I was called in to see the judge. Again, I started crying. “I’m so glad you’re here!” I said. “I’m not coping well.” He looked at my file and said, “How long have you been here?” I told him and he said, “I think you’ve suffered enough. Can you hang on 45 more minutes. I nodded and dried my eyes. I was never so glad to see the sunshine and I haven’t gotten a traffic ticket since. I hated being behind bars that night. I hated not being able to go where I needed and do what I needed. The truth is, in our spiritual life we are often just as trapped. It might be from guilt or addiction. It might be from sadness that won’t let go. For me it is fear. I have been learning to recognize fear when I see it and walk out of it step by step but it has been a battle. There are legitimate things to be afraid of right now with the things happening in the world, but when it controls us we can be just as locked up as if we were in a physical cell. Whatever has us trapped spiritually will keep us from doing what we need to do and fulfilling god’s purpose for us. So how do we get free? First of all we recognize that we cannot free ourselves. That is why God sent Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Paul said in the letter to the Romans, “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” Romans (7:19) He describes his frustration at his condition and then in verse 24 he says,” Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” ( Romans 7:24). So Jesus can deliver us from sin but what about the other things that plague us? What about fear? Because I needed to I looked up the scriptures about fear. There are 365 of them. Some of the ones I love most are these Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The Lord will be a light to me. Micah 7:8. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand Isaiah 41:10. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 Even as I typed these verses they spoke to me again. Jesus can and will deliver us from our fear. Finally, what about disease, including addiction. In Isaiah 53:5 we read “ut He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. “ Later in 1 Peter2:24, we read, “"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” I encourage you this week to look for the areas where you are still bound. Accept Jesus’ healing and freedom. Learn more and more of Him and then spread the word to help someone who is still trapped.