As we continue to share with people that we are headed to join ZOE International, we have been surprised and blessed by people in many ways. Their words of support and care have bolstered and encouraged us.
What I didn’t expect and what caused me to stop and re assess is how deeply this work that we are called to would affect people that are dear to us.
One very good friend, shared with me that she suffered from abuse when she was younger and that it took her a very long time to recover. She was concerned about our emotional endurance as we enter this work. We don’t know what it will be like once we are there. For anyone who knows me, you know what an empath I am. So I very much appreciated her words. It made me aware of something I need to monitor in myself.
The other was someone who came along side us and helped us with so many details and logistics and after things had quieted down a bit and we were able to talk, they shared that they weren’t sure they could ever visit the ZOE home because of their own abuse as a child. Here we were making plans and this person helping us with so much and it never occurred to us that this was difficult for them. I had to stop and reflect. I sat with God and processed.
Our God is a God of healing and restoration. He wants to make us whole in Him. He wants to bring us into His joy, His peace & His love. When we visited the ZOE home and saw the children there, that is what we saw. They are happy and loved and safe. We want to be a part of God’s work there bringing each child to restoration, healing and wholeness.
These friends that have suffered – I see lives that God has made whole. That’s not to say, they don’t remember the pain. The scars are there. It is my prayer for them and for us all to be able to see ourselves as God sees us. His filter is Jesus. Through Jesus, we are made clean, we are made whole, we are healed.
The song Mended by Matthew West, says it well. Here is a link to the video with lyrics. I hope you will listen to it when you have some time. https://youtu.be/-Otg-5p7qug
God didn’t bring just healing of wounds, He brought ultimate healing. 2 Corinthians 5: 17 – 21 says –
“17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
We are all meant to be reconciled to God. He wants this deep relationship with each of us. “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” We pray for this for each of you. We have tried to live our lives as ambassadors of Christ and desire to continue to do so in a new land. Thank you for journeying with us.