I Still Do.

Devotional | Shannon Miller.

Remember the joy you felt at the moment you came to know Jesus, or at the moment you emerged from the waters of baptism? You knew that everything had changed, that you had crossed from dark to light and from death to life. You had entered into a new marriage covenant, and your soul was wed to the King who has loved you forever. Maybe you felt as if your heart was just bursting with this new life, and you needed to shout and run, or sing and dance!

Time has a way of getting us used to even the most extraordinary things, and years after salvation, your daily experience with God may not look much like that glowing moment of joy. As Paul instructs in Philippians 4:4-9, we must choose to rejoice, by putting what Christ has done for us before our eyes again and again.

Recently I found myself weeping for joy at the wedding of a dear friend, because of the way that Abba, through eleven years and some very dark chapters, has utterly transformed his life. As he made a public commitment to his bride, I felt like proclaiming to the world that “I still do” – this Jesus is still worthy of my trust and He is still faithfully leading His bride, the church.  Every hard story in my life, God is turning into a resurrection story (Romans 8:28). Sometimes He does it in a glorious instant, and sometimes He does it over months, years, even decades. It’s okay to cry at the sad parts, but at the same time I can rejoice, that this is not the end, and “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2) writes good endings!