Daily Reading
The Door to Restoration
January 6, 2025
“He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives” (Isa. 61:1). Jesus quoted this verse to announce his arrival.
Friends—Jesus is healing and restoring your humanity right now, in anticipation of Eden’s return. Part of our journey forward is a journey backward into our stories, to bring all the events of our lives—the Arrows and the Haunting—into the light of the Sacred Romance and into the loving care of Jesus. We lost heart initially because we had no one to tell us how to reconcile the Haunting and the Arrows, or if we did, our interpreters often got the story wrong.
If we refuse to go and get them, the Arrows will remain lodged within us, poisoning the waters of our heart, coloring our real convictions about life, and draining away our vitality for the journey. Several years ago a friend at work took me aside to say, “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but you are intimidating your colleagues.” I wanted to laugh, because I didn’t feel intimidating at work; much of the time I felt small and scared. But his words provoked a search that led me first to the realization that I was in fact a very driven person (the reason my colleagues experienced me as intimidating). As I began to wonder why, I journeyed back to the day I was arrested as a teenager and the Arrow that lodged with the message “You are on your own.” Though I had been a Christian for many years and knew all the promises about God always being with me, they had no power in my soul. The Arrow remained defining and I lived from its perspective.
As I entered into that heart-room where this particular Arrow had struck, the wound felt tender and new. Standing again in that place, I had ears to hear Jesus tell me I am not on my own, that he will never leave or forsake me. Jesus is very active right now in the lives of his people, raising things like this so that he might heal them. When something “presents” itself—a fear or anxiety, a rage or a memory—walk straight toward it, into it, and invite Jesus in. Open the door of your heart in this very place, and invite Jesus to come and heal you here. He loves doing it!
Want More? Order your copy of The Sacred Romance today
Friends—Jesus is healing and restoring your humanity right now, in anticipation of Eden’s return. Part of our journey forward is a journey backward into our stories, to bring all the events of our lives—the Arrows and the Haunting—into the light of the Sacred Romance and into the loving care of Jesus. We lost heart initially because we had no one to tell us how to reconcile the Haunting and the Arrows, or if we did, our interpreters often got the story wrong.
If we refuse to go and get them, the Arrows will remain lodged within us, poisoning the waters of our heart, coloring our real convictions about life, and draining away our vitality for the journey. Several years ago a friend at work took me aside to say, “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but you are intimidating your colleagues.” I wanted to laugh, because I didn’t feel intimidating at work; much of the time I felt small and scared. But his words provoked a search that led me first to the realization that I was in fact a very driven person (the reason my colleagues experienced me as intimidating). As I began to wonder why, I journeyed back to the day I was arrested as a teenager and the Arrow that lodged with the message “You are on your own.” Though I had been a Christian for many years and knew all the promises about God always being with me, they had no power in my soul. The Arrow remained defining and I lived from its perspective.
As I entered into that heart-room where this particular Arrow had struck, the wound felt tender and new. Standing again in that place, I had ears to hear Jesus tell me I am not on my own, that he will never leave or forsake me. Jesus is very active right now in the lives of his people, raising things like this so that he might heal them. When something “presents” itself—a fear or anxiety, a rage or a memory—walk straight toward it, into it, and invite Jesus in. Open the door of your heart in this very place, and invite Jesus to come and heal you here. He loves doing it!
Want More? Order your copy of The Sacred Romance today