I bought a journal at an artisan market when I was living in Santiago, Chile. It was beautiful. Handmade. Leather. And big. Four hundred pages. I know because I numbered them, for curiosity's sake. It took me 4 and 1/2 years to fill up the first two hundred pages. Only 9 months to finish the rest.
I spent about an hour flipping back. Re-living, re-feeling, drawing a map of this journey from Then to Now. So much time. So much life. So much change. Being stuck in Then for so long, not knowing where to go next, seeing no way out, I could never have imagined the road that led to Now. Looking back, I was able to see how far He's brought me. How completely He's transformed me. What a journey!
He is so patient, so diligent, so careful. He has refined me in all this time since Then. The time has been, at moments, painful. The refining has been gentle, slow, full of purpose. I am still wrestling with questions and doubts about my own ability. But my hope is forever in Him. My peace rests in His promises. My proof is found in the journey to Now, in the great distance He has brought me. This journey is forging a testimony that didn't exist back Then.
Where will this lead? Where will He take my heart next? I know I can't stay here... in Now. Besides, I am excited about what lies on the road to Tomorrow. Challenge. Opportunity. More time. More refining. The journey continues. And my Creator walks beside me.
Look for HIs hand in the road behind. And when you have learned to see it, then look for HIs hand in the road ahead. Take His hand, follow His hand. Only in His hand will you be free.
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