The yearning for renewal and rebirth is the voice of God calling you to something more. His love, poured over you, wakes up that desire to recognize more, see more, taste more, and experience more of Him. The hunger to enter more fully into His everlasting love began when He brought you out of the grey of nothingness, the sameness of self-love, into the colors of His love and care for us. Redemption is always bringing us back to what was intended all along. Redemption says there’s more to be had, more to be lived, and more to offer to God and His kingdom. The effect is discontentment with living distantly from Him, but instead to come close, tucking into His side so that we can see the world as He does and love what He loves.
Renewal, rebirth…it’s not for the fainthearted. Pushing through the dark to find the light often takes us back to where we’ve been, entering grief, naming idols, living in the gap between what we have and what we most truly want. This is the place of renewal…right in the middle of our truths. And this is the place where we earnestly pray for the grace to withstand the temptations within and without, subtle and bold, to take an easier way that doesn’t ask so much of us. But if we will heed the hunger in our souls, His love will be known by us more and more, richer and fuller, until we see Him face to face.
ACTION: As you watch this video, what sparks in your imagination? What might this Abbey have looked in its original state? How does it mimic the state of your soul? What would you like to have from God?
