I have a small clock in my living room that my friend Cindy gave me when I moved back to Belle to pursue ministry. It was a reminder that God redeems the time. It doesn’t work, but it’s one of my most valued treasures I have because I can’t look at without being reminded of redemption.
As I look at the clock this morning I’m reminded that perhaps sometimes God stops the time for a brief moment so we don’t miss the miracle that just took place right in front of our very eyes. Eyes that have seen pain and brokenness and rejection and hatred and fear and heartbreak.
Ah yes.. and then suddenly time stops and none of those things matter. And the clock says, “Shh… I’m stopping for a millisecond because God is going to do a thing. Don’t miss it!”
And in that millisecond of time the world around us stops, God smiles and our eyes see forgiveness and compassion and grace and mercy and hope and faith and healed hearts.
This picture is a reminder of all of the above. To most of the world, you just see two sets of hands, but to the Woolley family it’s so much more. In the last 16 days I have watched the clock stop for our family. And I have seen time redeemed.
I have cut the rest of the picture out because not all parts of the story are mine to tell.
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As I write this, Cody Carnes is singing “Too Good To Not Believe.” I hear “Don’t you tell me He can’t do it” coming through the speaker of my iPhone, followed by “We’ve seen families reunited, we’ve seen prodigals return.”
And my heart soaks up those words because just as the Israelites watched God part the red sea so they could be free from their bondage, I watched a red sea in our family be parted by a grace-filled, merciful God.
The enemies of the Israelites drowned in their desperate efforts to keep control of them. And before my very own eyes and in my own heart, I’ve watched the enemies of bitterness and rejection and fear and hatred be drowned.
One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Joel 2:25. “The Lord says, ‘I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.'”
In the last 16 days I have watched God restore what the locusts have eaten in our family. Oh, I wish you could’ve been there to see it. I still can’t fully wrap my head around it myself.
I have this reminder on my wall that says, “God can restore what is broken and change it into something amazing. All you need is Faith.” Yes! God CAN restore. He CAN change things.
This picture is proof.
My friend Mitch used to ask me when I’d tell a crazy story about my family, “What chapter of the book will this be in?” I don’t know the answer to that yet, but this chapter…. this chapter is full of gritty redemption, that despite all the words I’ve already written this morning, I still don’t seem to have the words to explain it.
The two sets of hands in this picture are proof that God truly is the redeemer of time. These two sets of hands are proof that despite what the locusts have tried to destroy, restoration is possible. The two sets of hands in this picture are proof that LOVE covers a multitude of sins. Proof that God can bring revival to any heart willing to allow Him in.
Yes, I think I am convinced that God has stopped time in the last 16 days, even if it was only for a millisecond. Because in that millisecond, He has REDEEMED THE TIME!