She sat in the wheelchair, wrapped in blankets against the cool winter weather. Gnarled hands resting on her lap, weathered and worn from years of working hard. Despite the wrinkles, her face was peaceful and relaxed as she listened to the woman standing before her, telling a story. Her large brown eyes shone with the joy of the message she was hearing. A slight smile played across her lips as she delighted in the guitar music and singing. Her body was old, worn, and broken but she was still able to tap her slippered toe in time to the familiar song.
She was once abandoned, left in a dilapidated shack on the hillside of the city. Lying paralyzed in a lumpy, dirty bed with flies buzzing across her face as she tried to sleep. Unable to mobilize herself, care for her urgent needs, or even feed herself, she was hopeless, deserted and waiting to die.
And then love found her.
Rescued her from her desolation.
Gave her a new life and a new hope.
The visiting minister saw her plight and was moved with compassion.
Unable to turn away, he knew he could not leave her in that shack. He knew he could not deny the needs of this lady whose life was not yet done.
With tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat, he lifted her into his strong arms and carried her out of the hovel, down the hillside, and into his home. His family washed her, fed her, cared for her, protected her, and loved her. She became family.
She was no longer lost. No longer abandoned. No longer left alone to die.
She was accepted. She knew hope. She knew love.
“But God still loved us with such great love. He is so rich in compassion and mercy. Even when we were dead and doomed in our many sins, he united us into the very life of christ and saved us by his wonderful grace!” Ephesians 2:4-5 (TPT)
I’ve been there. Maybe you have too.
Spiritually lost, abandoned, broken, hopeless, and waiting to die.
Maybe you feel as if you have been deserted and life hasn’t turned out the way you hoped. Maybe you have been rejected, forsaken, or discarded.
God’s love is endless. His mercies are new every morning. He loves you. He cares for you. In his arms, you can feel safe, protected, and accepted once again.
Allow God to lift you into his strong arms and carry you into safety and into His family. In his protection, you can know love, acceptance, joy, and hope again.