(That’s me pictured above!)
Yay!!!!!
It’s less than a week away! The release of my first book. The publication of my memoir entitled
Divine Reversal. As I have read and reviewed the page proofs over the past few weeks, I have revisited my story again and again.
My emotions have run the gamut, but mostly I am overwhelmed.
Overcome. Overawed. By the faithfulness of God.
Through the valleys of abuse, trauma, shame, and panic, God was faithful.
Through the times when every dream I had for my life died, God was faithful.
Through the seasons when I thought God had forgotten me, God was faithful.
Through! How I had despised that word in the trenches of the healing process. How I had repeatedly pleaded, “Why God, why?” and “When God, when?” How I had wished that God would take away all the pain in an instant.
But it was in the midst of the “through” that I found God to be a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).
Because of the through
It was through when I was assured He would never leave nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5).
And in the end, God came through for me in ways I could never have imagined.
As I reflect on my five-decade-long journey, the faithfulness of God towers like a mighty mountain over all the formidable foes that threatened to decimate me. I can testify of His unshakable goodness and His extraordinary trustworthiness, not because I read about it. Or heard someone else say it.
But because of through. Yes, friends, the faithfulness of God is best learned by going through. Because through is the test of faithfulness.
Here I am at the culmination of decades of living my story, years of writing my story, months of editing my story, weeks of publishing my story, and days of publicizing my story. And the gold of the experience is not a book. Or being an author. The greatest treasure is what I learned about
the faithfulness of God…because of through.
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name;
You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.” (Isaiah 43: 1-2 NKJV)
