God’s Redeeming Love

One of the things I love most about teaching at Bingham is the Christian environment I am surrounded by daily.  Every morning the staff meets before school for devotion and prayer.  It is one of my favorite parts of the day, and I wouldn’t think about missing it.  The devotions are led by different members of the staff.  We are each given a week of staff devotions in which we share something that God has laid on our hearts.  This past week I led devotions and I chose to speak on the power of God’s redemption in my own life.  Because my heart is so full with this, I want to also share with others from home.

“And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those that love him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

For years I have been fascinated with this idea of God’s redemption.  One of the things I love most about God is that He truly can work all things for good in our lives.  This verse in its essence illustrates redemption.  Stories of redemption are my favorite kinds of stories; there is something so encouraging and inspiring in the fact that God can take some of the most horrifying moments or choices of our life and turn it into a beautiful masterpiece.

Redemption can refer to the deliverance from sin---salvation--- or compensating for the faults or bad aspects of something you have done or something that has happened to you.  When I think of God’s redemption in my own life I can see evidence of both of these references.  God has in His power and sovereignty given me salvation, delivered me from my sins, redeemed some of my worst moments/ mistakes, and has somehow managed to glorify Himself through them.

Anyone who has known me since high school can attest to the fact that God has truly worked in amazing ways in my life.  I am not proud of the girl I used to be and I have a past that is shocking to many.  However, the transformation that has taken place can only bring glory to God and His power to change lives.  When I think back on my past, the only response I can manage is praise to God.  I’m so grateful that He saved me from myself and my awful choices.  Not only did He save me, but He also healed the broken parts of my life.  Only God could save me, heal my brokenness, and give me the ability to not wish any of those bad choices away, but to be grateful for them as reminders of how amazing my God truly is and how much He loves me.

How does He do it?  How is He able to redeem us from something we believe to be unredeemable?  Will we ever be able to understand it?  Do we really want to?  In my time with God today, I came across a quote from Eugene Peterson that caused me to reflect on Him and my own position in accordance to Him.

"We are not presented with a functional god who will help us out of jams or an entertainment god who will lighten our tedious hours.  We are presented with the God of exodus and Esther, the God of Sinai and Calvary.  If we want to understand God, we must do it on his terms.  If we want to see God the way he really is, we must look to the place of authority---to scripture and to Jesus Christ.

And do we really want it any other way?  I don’t think so.  We would very soon become contemptuous of a god whom we could figure out like a puzzle or learn to use like a tool.  No, if God is worth our attention at all, he must be a God we can look up to—a God we must look up to….The moment we look up to God (and not over at him, or down on him) we are in the posture of servitude.”

I don’t know how God is able to work all things in our lives for good.  I’m just grateful that He does.  If anyone who reads my blog happens to be struggling with a sin or mistake you have made in your own life,  let God’s redeeming love heal your brokenness.  He wants to do it because He loves you, and it’s a tangible way for Him to show you His power.  I promise, it will only make you fall so in love with this God that you will never be able to figure out.  And in return it will also make you want to spend your life trying.