Captivating

battered, beaten, bruised I came to You
hardly breathing, barely able,
hiding
it hurt so much to finally say what was going on with me
I was so afraid...
and You offered life
I was wasting away, but You gave me hope

No I am not yet what I long to be,
but I am underway
restoration has begun.

this morning I was given probably the best compliment I could ever get. I was having coffee with a new friend and we were talking about God and I paused and said that He is the most important thing to me. And she said, "you know, before I ever really talked to you, I knew that."

Can you believe that? I thought I was going to burst with happiness!! What a thing to have said to you! I'm in love, and it's obvious.

I just find myself praising Him for the rest I have in Him:

"They looked to Him and were radiant." (Psalm 34:5 NKJV)

I was listening to this song, Stars by David Crowder, and these lyrics just stuck out to me again:

I've got nothin' on my own to give to You
but this Light that shines on me, shines on You
and makes everything beautiful again

And then I had another thought, in thinking about my dad and the ex-boyfriend and just my longing to be pursued, and how, a couple of summers ago I was looking for a passage where God is pursuing me, and He showed me, it's there--He has a passionate longing for me like I have for Him! Isaiah 62:

1For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,
until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
and her salvation as a burning torch...
4You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;[d]
for the LORD delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
5For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.


I am so taken with this passage. I keep coming back to it. I might not get what my heart longs for (specifically a husband), but I will always have my deepest longing, Him my Husband. He knew it, He speaks into the very thing I long for. And it frees me to love! It gives me the passion and energy to run the race, and I don't have to be ashamed.