The Lord's Declaration

“‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt…you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. I will satisfy…and my people will be filled with my bounty,’ declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 31:3-4, 13-14.

Today is the day that the LORD has made! It is the one year anniversary of my dad’s homegoing. There is no sadness today for me as I celebrate all that is His for eternity. Being human, however, is what we do best and being God is what He does best! Leading up to today I can’t say the same about my sadness. On Sunday I attended a funeral that ended up being in the chapel on the grounds where my dad was buried. Since discovering the location of the funeral I had been dreading attending and facing the fresh pain of my friend as she lost her dad. On Saturday I decided that after the funeral I would spend a few moments at Daddy’s gravesite. By the time Sunday arrived, I was saddened and raw in my emotions and barely made it through church. When Bruce asked if I would spend time by my dad’s grave I curtly responded, ‘No.’ I left for the funeral allowing just enough drive time to get there within five minutes of it’s beginning. The Lord had other plans….

I have lived in Charlotte most of my life and never have I reached Sharon Memorial Gardens in less than 35 minutes…I made it in 25 minutes on this day. With ten minutes to spare I was ‘drawn’ to go and sit at my dad’s gravesite. I was expecting this to be like in the movies where I lovingly and thoughtfully glanced down sharing the deepest part of my heart. Instead I felt awkward and detached, however I proceeded telling Daddy how much I love him and have missed him. That took all of 5 seconds at which point my eyes scanned over to the right of the headstone. It shows Mother’s name and date of birth with the dash following. I immediately starting praising God for the empty date and the fact I have my mother on this earth. That praise was followed up with my gratitude of all of the blessings I have in my life – past, present and future. This went on for 10 minutes straight until I realized how big the smile was on my face.

I came detached…He drew me in.
I came torn down…He built me up.
I came with no music…He sang over me.
I came with grief…He replaced it with gladness that I came.
I came with sorrow…I left dancing with joy.

Because of His everlasting love for me I was filled with His bounty. No matter what you are facing this morning, the love that God so freely declares to extend for me is also yours in full.