“For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” Matthew 13:17
One of my favorite characteristics of God is that He is a Redeemer. Last week, I wanted to speak into the “new” thing I sense God doing today. I think this goes right along with that, God is a God who takes old things, and He turns them into a new, better thing. He redeems.
It reminds me a lot of what my mom and my sister are doing with their small business. They work with vintage items, fix them up, glam them up, and then resell them. When they purchase them, they’re often unwanted, ugly, dusty, and sitting in a corner of a dirty thrift shop. But when they’re all fixed up and posed in perfectly curated instagram images, suddenly it’s clear to everyone how much value they have.
It’s the same old piece of furniture, but you wouldn’t recognize it. All it took was a little bit of vision.My mom and my sister have a gift for seeing something that other people would call junk, and instead they will call me proclaiming they just discovered the greatest thing! They’re giddy and excited about the thing they found, even though when they found it, it looked like a piece of junk. They aren’t focused on that though, they’re focused on the vision. They’re focused on what they can see it becoming. Honestly, sometimes I don’t see it yet, but they do, and after a couple of coats of paint and maybe some new hardware, it’s a treasure.
Jesus does even more for us than that, but in case it’s been a while since someone reminded you of the simple truth of the gospel, I want to be that person for you today. If you’re feeling forgotten, or useless, or overlooked, I want you to know that I see something in you. More importantly, Jesus does too. Jesus covers all of the sin, all of the failures, all of the mistakes. You are full of potential, purpose, and you are a treasure. Nothing you do or say or face can change that. That’s the power of redemption. God sees you and loves you right where you’re at, but He also sees beyond that. He sees where He’s taking you, and I want to remind you this morning that we can ask God to see that too.
God redeems people, and that’s a huge and beautiful part of who He is. But I also want to talk about His redemptive power over our circumstances or situations. When we are living in the kingdom, it isn’t just about that one moment when we say yes to Jesus. That’s a big moment, but it doesn't stop there. I need to be reminded of the truth of the gospel daily, and thankfully I have a God who is on a mission to redeem everything so I get to see Him at work doing that in my daily life. We get to see God move, every day.We are invited into the journey of redemption, and I can see it in my life, in my husband, in my family, in my friends, in my neighbors, in the world.
Have you ever noticed how when people will share the testimony of how they met and gave their lives to Jesus, they usually stop right after they say yes? Personally, I’m usually sitting there feeling like I’m in the middle of a Netflix episode and my computer just ran out of battery. What happens next? Maybe you’ve asked yourself that before too.
Walking with Jesus is just that, it’s a journey. It’s walking. It’s moving. It’s not just one first step. God redeemed. And now, God redeems. And He keeps redeeming. He’s still redeeming. He’s redeeming us, every day, and He’s redeeming our circumstances and our situations.
Is there something you’re thinking of right now? Something that makes you feel forgotten, unused, overlooked or lonely? Is there a situation that left you feeling like you didn’t have vision to see past it?Is there a circumstance that you can’t see any hope or any possible way it could turn around?
God can redeem that too. He can redeem anything.
And He wants us to see it. In scripture, there is a huge theme of seeing, eyes, and vision. God can give us vision and hope for the future, He can allow us to see not in the natural but in our spirits. We can see past the things that seem like they have no end, and we can see hope when there’s hopelessness, and opportunity when there’s disaster. God is the One who redeems, He’s the One who works the miracle, and He invites us to watch.
When I read Matthew 13:17 I am reminded that as a believer, I have seen the goodness of God, and I can testify and tell others about it. Saying yes to Jesus means we have seen, but it doesn't stop there. We get to continue to see Him, every single day. Every day, we make the choice to see beyond the natural, to see beyond the circumstances, to see past our human, logical mindsets, and to see with the Spirit instead.
I don’t want to overlook an opportunity because it looks like a piece of junk in a thrift store to me in my humanness. I want to have the vision God has given us access to. I want to see beyond what it is, and see what it can become when met by the redemptive power of God. I want to see beyond what makes sense, and to have vision for what is next.
Journaling Prompts:
-Reflect on when your eyes were opened to the truth of the gospel. How have you seen God’s redemptive power in your life since then?
-Think about the situation or circumstance that came to mind while reading. What do you see? Ask God to show you what He sees.
-Write (and pray!) about the vision God has for you in this season.
Prayer:
God thank you for opening our eyes and our hearts to you. Thank you for being a God who is eager to continuously reveal Himself to us. I pray you would bring fresh revelation to all of us today! Help us to see with your eyes Lord, to not depend on our own vision, but for you to open our eyes to the opportunities and potential that we might not see. Help us to be open and receptive to what you want to show us today. Amen.