I Will Restore Her Ruins

I will raise up and restore her ruins. Isaiah 44:26
This morning I was reading from Isaiah and stopped here.

I will raise up and restore her ruins.

Her places of brokenness and seasons of grief.  Her seasons of loss and tears.  Her dreams of tomorrows shattered into pieces leaving her with a future of unknowns.  
     As I read that verse over and over again I remember like it was yesterday the moment my world as I knew it crumbled and I looked at the faces of my children, offering them consolation that could only come from God's Word, and thought to myself, "What NOW? What are we going to do?"

And there it was, in black and white, on the pages in my lap.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you.  Isaiah 43:2

.....I was in over my head.
Feeling as though the grief would consume me, while my mind was lost in a sea of questions, doubts and fears.  

I am the Lord, the One who makes rivers in the wastelands.
I am doing a new thing -can you not see it? Isaiah 43:19

My tomorrows, full of doubts, fears and uncertainties, are NOW.  Today, THIS moment....I look around and see it.  The rivers in the wasteland.  

Sitting there, reading through Isaiah, I became so overwhelmed with gratitude.  That where there was death, what I thought would once consume me....became a tomorrow full of promise and blessings.  Favor and SUCH mercy.

I carried those thoughts with me in my heart throughout the day, feeling this quiet gratitude for NOW.  Gratitude for what was, and gratitude for what is NOW.
Nothing is as I thought it would be.....but at the core of all that is, is SO MUCH GRACE.
Driving down the road, making small talk with my oldest, our conversation turned to memories of daddy.

After talking for a while he said, "Mom....we are so blessed."
He seemed surprised....that this life that we are living could only be a miracle.  A testimony that God will heal broken places, and do impossible miracles. 

And there it was again....

I will raise up and restore her ruins.

The promise that even in the midst of your darkest places, there is this HOPE.  This promise....and that He will do something new.

So I shared my heart with my son because I too wanted him to see it.  

That only God could breathe something new into the ruins we find ourselves in.  That when we find ourselves in over our heads...He promises it won't consume us.  To cling to him with every bit of strength we have left and know that the same Grace that took us through yesterday is still with us in this moment and will carry us through into our tomorrows.  And that those tomorrows are full of hope and promise.  

As we were talking I remembered our pastor praying over my husband not too long before he passed away.  He looked at my husband and said, "The Lord wants you to know that He WILL fulfill His promises to you and your family.  When those around you look at you they will marvel at the GOOD things He has done."

God was making a promise to him that day......that everything was going to be okay.  He WOULD NOT abandon the works of His hands.  He WOULD FULFILL HIS PROMISES TO US and our family would be a testimony to the Goodness of God.  

I looked over at my son and he was crying.

He could see it too.  The rivers in the wasteland.  The Lord making a way in the desert.  Provision, favor and blessings.  Beauty where there was once devastation.  Joy in the places of deep deep sorrow.  Clothing our hearts in thankful praise in exchange for resignation and despair.  Isaiah 61

Turning our mourning into dancing.  Beauty from ashes.

It's who He is, my friends.
What the enemy meant for my undoing, God brought restoration, and did a new thing.  
And here we are today....a living, breathing testimony to the goodness of God.
That He is Healer, He is Provider, He is Restorer, He is comforter, He is our Peace.
In our yesterdays, in our todays and in all of our tomorrows.
HOPE for a future full of GOOD things.  

When the Lord restored us, we were like those who dreamed.  Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of Joy.  It was said among the nations, "the Lord has done great things for them!"
The Lord HAS done great things for us and we are filled with joy.
Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy Psalm 126