It’s a wet evening. There’s a cricket chirping rhythmically in the tree outside of my second story window. The sounds of sirens racing by occasionally interrupt the peace but for the most part, it is quiet.
I stop typing. Listen to the hum of the refrigerator. The cricket… I think I’ll call him Terrance.
Deep breath.
This newsletter? It’s the start of something new.
Beautiful
It’s a wet evening. There’s a cricket chirping rhythmically in the tree outside of my second story window. The sounds of sirens racing by occasionally interrupt the peace but for the most part, it is quiet.
The Song I want to highlight today is the last of the album, called “The Traveler.” It begins with a lament, then transitions to the words of Christ reminding the listener what He has borne.
Oh the lonely road I’m on nobody here could know
There’s none that knows my sorrows or bears my heavy load
There’s none that understands my pain or who I am
It’s a lonely road I’m on, it’s a lonely road I’m on
Oh the lonely road you’re on, was it to Calvary?
Bearing the weight of all the world for the ones who made you bleed?
You think you’re misunderstood? Who lonelier than me?
Who died for those that struck him, who bled to make them free?
I am the God-man, this road was mine
Your pain was in my life sanctified
Lived what you are living so that you might be alive
I am the God-man, this road was mine
You think I don’t understand the heart that I have made?
That soul that rests within my hands that with my blood was claimed
I know every trial, I know every ache
For those who would despise me I have suffered every pain
It makes me ache, even when I don’t feel lonely. The idea that Christ understands our loneliness and suffering… it’s so comforting. Sometimes the act of trying new things can be a lonely process, (at least in the beginning). But Jesus understands. He has endured more loneliness than we will ever begin to experience. And like my favorite line in the song says, our pain is sanctified in His life.
I’ve been obsessively listening to “The Ways and the Means” by Sarah Sparks. I cannot recommend this album to you enough! It’s about pruning, about being broken so that God can do new things in our lives. It gives autumn, too, which makes me happy as the leaves along my favorite walk are just beginning to fall. 🍂
Theological
I’ve been reading in Isaiah for the past few weeks, and it’s been a slow and beautiful study. I think that so often we associate Isaiah with advent readings and long poetical judgements of nations that no longer exist, but I have noticed a different theme pop up again and again.
“Behold, I am doing a new thing” (Isaiah 43:19).
No longer will God watch as His people disobey Him and run from Him. He will rescue them. He will send someone to bring them back. His Son. For Israel, everything is about to change.
It’s a beautiful thing, because He isn’t just talking about Israel. In this season, I read these words, and I know that He’s speaking to me, too. With every day that passes, He is doing a new thing in my heart. Sanctifying me in a new way. Taking my failures and promising me, this is not the end. It’s only another beginning as I wake up each day and follow Him anew.
I love new beginnings. They are just so… exciting. God is good, and He is great at planning things like blessings, and surprises, and redemption stories, and lives, and newsletters, and the entirety of history. And whatever new thing He is doing in your life right now, I want to encourage you. It is a good thing.
We don’t always like new things. But the Father doesn’t give bad gifts. (James 1:17) Enjoy the new thing.
A Verse to Take With You As You Go…
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:4