Lost and Found.

I prayed with a person yesterday. This individual was hurting inside but trying to maintain a tough exterior. At the conclusion of the prayer, tears were welling in the eyes of said person and for a moment there was a softening of that rigid exterior. When cracks appear in the walls we have built to protect our persona, then God's grace and love can creep in to work in magnificent ways. We literally go from estranged from our God to being on our way to reconciliation. It's a great feeling. Struggles lessen and possibilities widen.

Being in opposition to God or as the apostle Paul says, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior." is not a place we would choose to be but oft times find ourselves there. Jesus desires to rescue us from those dark places and bring us forward into His love and light. He can negotiate the walls and embrace the fearful child hiding behind the barrier.

Incredible love is the best way to describe God. I mean, think about it, God is pleased to have all of His godly attributes rest in Jesus Christ who then has the power to rescue us from our sins and self-made fortresses. While we try to fend off anything that could injure us, God steps over our feeble constructs and offers us peace. I'm feeling pretty blessed just thinking about this scripture here from Colossians.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created:

things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all

things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so

that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in

him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in

heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God

and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by

Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from

accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the

gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven,

and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. (Colossians 1:15-23, NIV)

Are you cowering behind your wall and trying to scare people away with your rough exterior? Are you hurting on the inside and feel like God is a billion light years away? Know that God is seeking for you and wants to fill you with holiness and hope. If another soul approaches you and offers to befriend and pray for you, jump at this opportunity. Experience tears of cleansing and restoration that could lead you in the future to help one of your friends caught in the same prison.