𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐮𝐩 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬:

I took communion yesterday for the first time in three years.

The average person might read the preceding sentence and 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞.

The average person might read about what happened yesterday and never know that extravagant grace has been my provision.

𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, and I will never take it for granted.

I will never cease to marvel.

What took place yesterday pointed unmistakably to the power and faithfulness of our Red-Sea-Parting, Manna-Providing, Miracle-Making God.

You see, yesterday wasn’t the first time communion was offered; it was just the first time in a long time I felt worthy to take it.

That the Lord’s Supper would be part of yesterday’s service was unexpected, and tears began to stream the moment it was announced. I had cried the other times too, but for different reasons.

I knew, back then, that to partake would have been sin. It would have been merely for show, so I just didn’t do it…and it broke my heart.

In my estimation, it was easier to forgo it altogether than to deal with what held me captive. My heart, too bruised to be healed, too bitter to be content, and too bound to be set free, refused to yield. For far too long, I engaged in a willful, reckless game of tug-of-war against the only One with the power to set me free. It was an exercise in futility.

But, yesterday was different. The joy and gratitude that accompanied my long-missed communion were the fruit of months and months of seeking and surrendering and relinquishing and repenting—of offering to God what had never been mine to carry in the first place.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞!

Wanting more, though, than just renunciation, I plumbed the depths, embarking on a search for treasures hidden smack-dab in the middle of what I would never have chosen.

I discovered treasures aplenty—bonafide relics of redemption and souvenirs of sanctification—ironclad evidences of God’s power to bring good from bad—and abundant examples of His ability to transfigure sorrow into joy unspeakable and full of glory.

The treasures testify and endure, highlighting the unparalleled healing and transformation that occur when God is allowed unfettered access to all that leaves us bound.

That’s the key, by the way. He won’t pry it from our hands. He will coax. He will compel. He will convict. But He won’t coerce.

Neither, though, will He give up. He knows what liberation means for us and loves us too much to settle for anything less. So, He waits.

He joined me in my willful waiting and invited me to more. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞, and if He never blesses me again, my cup overflows. To Him be all the glory, for He is worthy of all the praise.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

~ 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝟓:𝟏