January 9, 2010
Groaning With Creation, Replaced By A Fulfilled But Continued Longing
One day, we’ll get to trade in our Yugo’s (bodies) for Mercedes, our Tears for Laughter, our Pain for Freedom, our Sadness for Rejoicing, our Yearning for Fulfillment, our Faith for Sight, and our Wordly Experiences for a Fuller and Clearer View of God.
When I feel such frustration with the world, which I think is a bit of that groaning with creation, waiting for the finishing work of God’s salvation to be complete and the saints to be with Him….I am driven ever more to love God and desire to be in His presence now and for all of eternity. His gifts are always good, but He Himself is Chief of All, Treasure above all treasures, more desirable than any thing that I had ever considered desirable, to the point that all I thought gain is loss and less than nothing compared with Christ – my All! I am eager for that day when, in heaven, we will do what our glorified souls long to do most – give God the glory for the great things He has done. Would God not smile as He saw our rapturous joy in Him and our thankfulness for the way in which He worked out our salvation!
I can see God being wonderfully glad; so glad that His infectious joy rushes into my heart directly from His overflowing gladness. He’s glad in Himself. He’s self-sufficient, and rightly so, and He glories in the masterpiece of His wise plans and their fulfillment. My joy is caught up into His joy; they nevermore shall be separated. I am in Christ and Christ is in me, for eternity!
My heart beats with a single melody of praise to God, one thought at a time, so engulfing, full, rich, and deep, each thought, that more than one thought about God cannot be entertained in any given moment. “Closer, Closer my God to thee!” my heart sings! I want to be closer at every moment, and at every moment I am drawn closer still, and yet closer still I long to be. The longing is refreshing and satisfying, worshipful in itself; a reminder that I am no longer separated, and evidence of the unfathomable depths of God. The longing is fulfilled, not as the longing we currently experience for God’s works to be accomplished. But the longing continues in a new vein because it searches the depths of God and finds more goodness, mercy, grace, justice, and love for each search it undertakes. In being convinced that there is always more of God to be known, this longing persists to know more of God forever. In seeking and finding, seeking and finding, seeking and finding, God proves to be the stream of Living Water that causes us to no longer thirst, but to rejoice as our thirst is continually satisfied in such a way that we desire to never stop drinking deeper. Can we swim in the grace of God? It is larger than an ocean! And therefore God gives us the endurance to walk and not grow weary, to run and not faint, to seek Him with every fiber of our being and never exhaust in the exploration of Himself.
The Second Great Exchange
For now, I long
for that moment whereupon
my lips shall profess before His throne
that “it was the work of Christ
and Christ alone
that saved this wretched soul
from the hell it owes.”
My Lord shall look upon this bowed form
and say “My child, this cross for you I’ve borne
to set you free from slavery
and make you Mine indeed.
Come now into your Master’s glory
and forever proclaim the wondrous story
of all Christ is for you.”
Tears of joy, reverence, and amazement
will wash my face afresh
and erase the years of anguish,
the tears of pain and regret.
There at that threshold
God will unveil the second Great Exchange
As He replaces the sinful and broken things
With what I’m given in Christ’s name.
Christ’s body was for me broken,
lashed and beaten and torn;
my bruised body is restored
and by His stripes is reborn.
He suffered Himself to stay on that cross,
when He could have been free with just the toss
of a thought.
His slavery sets me free.
He was rejected by the Father,
though His only heir;
I’m adopted by His grace
and held in my Father’s care.
He was despised and rejected,
looked down upon by the men thought wise,
that I, a foolish one,
might know God – the finishing prize.
By the drops of blood He sweat
in Gethsemane,
my sadness is replaced with rejoicing
in the sweetness of His mercy.
Because of His death and resurrection,
His promises come to life
and what I once believed by faith
now I can see by sight.
All my worldly experiences,
hard to understand,
yield to the fuller picture
of God’s great Master Plan.
Sarah M. Bosse 1.09.10 11:15pm
Truly God's Grace 