The Love Behind All Things New

I had intended to highlight a letter from Martha in early February, but I really dropped the ball on that. March is well upon us, but that will not diminish the beauty or power of what Martha wrote, not one iota. There is no diminishing a living testament to the great Love that makes all things new.

In January, Martha penned a look-back at the year that was, with a benediction for the year to come. It is posted on Shulamite.com, but I want to reference it here so that no one misses it. I cry every time I read it now because the LOVE is so evident, and so beautiful. I can think of no better way to end the week than with a love story like this one.

A Year with All Things New

I have been strangely touched by my own Devotional series All Things New, which was written some time ago.

I see the ‘new’ from an unfamiliar mountain and it is a fresh view of the Lord and His wondrous ways. And it’s true. He makes all things new…for Himself, by His presence. His purpose demands that all things be made new, whether we want the new or not. Writing this, I am smiling and even that smile is ‘new.’ Joy is somehow new.

Today (January 11) is the one-year anniversary of my husband’s passing. Personally, the year has seemed to be a terribly dark time, but today I have ‘new’ eyes and I see that actually it has been a year of unrelenting Light. You know how blinding it can be when a really bright light shines in your eyes? Well, looking back and also seeing the Now of today, I realize that I was blinded in the Light of God’s presence. What I felt as His absence was actually His radical intimacy with my heart and spirit…and even His invasion of my mind, taking me to all kinds of new seeing – of my life, my self, my story – flooding me with His reality and His grace. It was a terrible Light, and I didn’t comprehend that it was a healing force, so powerful I couldn’t escape it, so gentle that I could barely recognize it.

For a whole year, I felt wrecked physically and destitute spiritually. Yet the Holy Spirit would miraculously lift me up to declare Christ’s message, time and again.

My promise was Jeremiah 30:17 and my Bible seemed constantly to flop open on its own, to this word:

“For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds,” Declares the Lord.

If you haven’t already, please click over to Shulamite.com and read the rest of this letter. I know that it will bless you, no matter what condition you’re in today.