God is with you, He is for you and He believes in the resplendent light of His glory you carry within you…
For several years now, as I prepared to begin a new year, I asked God for a scripture word or passage that would be the theme promise for the year ahead. And every time, He has always delivered. Jeremiah 29:11 states, “He knows the plans He has for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a future with hope.” I believe God very much wants us to know His plans and to partner with Him to bring about His will in our lives and in our world. As I agree to partner with Him, I’ve found He gives me a sneak peek with these “Promise Passages” which always include my part to fulfill.
This year’s promise, in one simple word, confirms His plan is redemptive. As I sat with my new year’s promise, given in the word “resplendent,” I prayed to understand and to see from God’s eyes the meaning and significance behind it. After wrestling with it for a while, God showed me very clearly, becoming resplendent means we’ve been willing to face refinement and not run from challenges; we trusted God for courage in hard times and with God at our side we passed through them, as a sojourner in a foreign land (Ex 2:22).
In practical terms, when we face challenges with courage and go through hard times without breaking, we are similar to the iron being forged by a blacksmith. Once the metal has gone through the heat of the fire and the beating of the smith’s hammer, the expected outcome is resplendence and strength. A common piece of metal that succumbs to the intense heat of the flame and is then beaten with a smith's hammer has the potential to become something resplendent, something of beauty with purpose. Likewise, carbon atoms, located deep in the earth’s mantle that exist in conditions of intense heat and pressure will eventually crystallize to become a resplendent diamond - the most treasured jewel, sought after by everyone from poor young lovers to the world’s most wealthy and powerful Kings and Queens.
What I learned as I kept seeking God for deeper understanding is that the word resplendent and verse from Matthew 13 are His plans for the Church, also known as the body of Christ who represent the worshippers who seek Him and desire to do His will. But, the churches, who put religion and political alliance over one’s relationship with God and redemption of the people, who are struggling in America because they’ve largely been co-opted as judge and jury to a world that needs Jesus, those churches are missing the mark and fail to represent the Church that follows Jesus and seeks first God’s Kingdom here on earth.
This sounds rather dismal if you’ve tied yourself to a denomination without devoting yourself to Jesus. Yet, for all who love and worship Him, this is encouraging as God is saying “hope is on the horizon.” It’s been a year of challenge and struggle for many and I can attest, my life hasn’t felt “real” or normal for quite some time, even before Covid. Yet the more I listened for God’s still small voice, I realized that what most of us have been through the past two years would be likened to the metal and the carbon crystals, as they each went through refinement. Their transformation came through heat, pressure, and yielding to a Creator’s plan and for many of us, the experience has been much the same.
If you ended 2021 with a sigh of relief because the year was filled with hardship and it held little hope, I trust you receive this as your personal good news for 2022! As I start this year, I carry hope knowing that God has a purpose for those who have been going through a refining season. This past year was never intended to weaken or destroy us but it’s purpose was to transform and strengthen us. The world is getting darker, but God believes in the resplendent light of His beloved, that is born from trials and challenges that make us stronger and brighter. When the resplendence of the body of Christ shines together with the Light of the World, God will show us, there is no darkness we cannot overcome!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, RESPLENDENT ONES!