A look back...

Written 3/30/13 

Good Friday has always been dear to me and of course it is significant because of the bruising, suffering, ridicule and death that Jesus suffered for me; something I had embraced when I finally understood it as an unmatched, undeserved, unfettered love of God that was displayed for me, really me, Elizabeth Jerome! 
Only I can fully understand what it meant for God to carry the weight of my sins on His shoulders just like your understanding of His sacrifice will be different for you.

It was the year 1993 when I yielded to God's bidding. Yes if you do the math you would realize I was just a youngster then so young that my family questioned whether I had understood it fully enough to have been ready to take the steps I wanted...but I had understood what God needed me to understand at the very moment He wanted to come into my life! Certainly my knowledge has increased tremendously and even after 20 years I am convinced that my learning and conforming to the power of God in my life is a never ending process.

Twenty (20) years is a long time to have been saved but though it truly shielded me from certain behaviors, attitudes and experiences thought sinful I was certainly not without my share of mistakes. Thank God His sacrifice covers over the multitude of my sins...His grace is sufficient for me!

Many might see that as a carte blanche to do whatever their selfishness dictates but I see it as quite the opposite. Truly when we get into a relationship with God, we want to please Him so much that we do several things; we starve our own desires which we know are not pleasing to Him, our desires become entwined with His desires for us and we endeavor to find new ways to please Him in our everyday lives that are not spelled out in any manuscripts but that are fueled by our relationship with God.

It seems only fitting then that when a milestone like this is celebrated that there is some retrospection and introspection. I have started doing just that and whether you have celebrated such a feat or you just gave your life to Christ one thing is certain that God has always been at work in our lives and to look back is to gain a unique perspective as we watch how God has been integral to our very existence and sustenance.

Truly I have made many missteps especially in my most recent years as I am learning to be led by God in the face of adulthood and new challenges and experiences but I am committed for 'Jesus paid it all and all to Him I owe' and with 'Christ in the vessel I can smile at the storm'.

I will share some epiphanies on my blog over time but what I will say is that God has taught me resilience and strength, that I have endured many things that I never thought I would have survived but thank God and the God in me I have made it. 

I look ahead armed with the experiences I have had, the lessons I have learned, the Me that God is refining to face my present and future head on knowing that it will not be easy but being encouraged for God who is acquainted with my suffering tells me daily to "take heart I have overcome the world". So I press on housing some areas of myself that are strong and uncompromising because they have been refined over time and some other areas that are as weak as a heart that is bleeding and raw because my God and Savior is working on me and for me.

I will talk more about this verse in a subsequent post but I want to leave you with this to ponder now:
"But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him." 
Jeremiah 18:4 NIV

Happy Easter Everyone!

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Until next time,
EJ
Onward & Live IN Purpose