redemption

redeem. redeemer. redeemed. redemption. 

i think redemption is a universal theme. everyone recognizes it. everyone wants it. i think that's because everyone needs it. i am so thankful that i have been redeemed, and i am in the process of being made whole and complete. though i am admittedly far, far from it right now. 

lately i have been focusing on redemption a lot because i'm realizing more and more that everyone has blind spots. everyone. i can get up on my high horse and think i'm better than a whole bunch of people at a whole bunch of things, but then i look at my problem areas. those areas where i must hope that others will give me the most undeserved thing in the world -- grace. and i wonder where i get off hoping others will give me grace, when i'm not always willing to give it to them.

we all need to be redeemed. i hate that in america we try to hide our problems. too often we try to pretend that everything is peachy keen, and we fail to see that many times there are people around who will support us. there are so many sad, "slip through the cracks" stories because we aren't honest about where we are, and what's going on in our lives. 

no one is perfect. no one. remember that old saying that if something seems like it's too good to be true, it probably is? and yet, how often do we try to show the rest of the world a life that seems too good to be true? 

we live in a world full of hurting and broken people. no one is immune. everyone is in need of grace. everyone is in need of redemption. but we go on pretending, wearing our masks. this is not to say that we should tell everyone all of our dark and dirty secrets, but why don't we trust our closest friends enough to be completely honest with them? are we willing to get past the front, and not just share our crap, but to listen with open arms for others to speak too? 

today as i walked bexley, i studied the leaves; the colors of the leaves at the height of their autumnal beauty. and i realized that God has even gone so far as to redeem the leaves. [stay with me, i know it sounds crazy...]

the leaves are dying. they are disappearing for the winter, and next year new ones will replace them. God could have created them in such a way that they stay green and fall from the trees. or he could have given no thought to aesthetics and had them turn muddy brown, or black, and make the world a little bit uglier in the process. he could have made it so that the state of the leaves is not indicative of the season. but he didn't.

in a weird sort of way the fall is when the leaves become their most unique. their most beautiful. what they were created to be.

if God goes to such lengths to give us beauty in the leaves - to redeem them - how much more will he go to great lengths for us?

Source: google.com via Amy on Pinterest

we're all in need of a savior.