until the day breaks fully in the east

from January 3, 2009

I spent some hours with Jen last night...such a sweet time talking about God's amazing Word, life and our place in it, friendships, relationships, grace, healing, our hearts, who we are, and the God that comes through for us in the middle of the night.
And in the meanderings of our searching of the Word and self-realization, we came to something that blew me away. In the Old Testament - particularly Jeremiah and Hosea - God says to His people that He will "heal their faithlessness" and "heal their apostacy." He speaks about all the disgusting, hurtful, destructive things that they do, all their sin, and says that He will heal it...
I don't know about you, but that is kind of a radical thought to me, a very different view of sin than we tend to think that God has or than we have ourselves. Sin as a sickness to be healed...Let me ask you this: would you ever smack a sick person and tell them to be well again? Of course not. You give them medicine. You take care of them. You rub soothing ointments into sores and wrap them carefully. It's loving. It's tender. God sees our sin as a disease, as wounds to be healed (check out Isaiah 1), not merely as something to be punished. He sees it as something damaging to us that brings us pain. And it's this sin, this damage, this pain that he wants to change. How compassionate and gracious the heart of God that doesn't seek simply to punish sin, but to heal it. With this God, there is so much room for our hearts.

"'Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.'" - Jeremiah 3:22
"'I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick" - Ezekiel 34:16
Also check out Psalm 107. It's amazing.

“Ten Thousand Angels” by Derek Webb

how long you have traveled in darkness weeping
no rest in language, no words to speak
but there in the wreckage beneath bricks and bindings
Love has come, Love has come for you

against the night sky of your waiting
your face is like starlight when he walks in
everything worth keeping comes through dying
Love has come, Love has come for you

so lift up your heart now, to this unfolding
all that has been broken will be restored
here runs deep waters for all who are thirsty
Love has come, Love has come for you

ten thousand angels will light your pathway
until the day breaks fully in the East
they will surround you and make your way straight
Love has come, Love has come for you
Love has come, Love has come for you