Pause for a minute and envision this: A train, at full speed, off the tracks, careening down a mountain side. There’s already a great deal of wreckage, and yet the damage has only just begun. It was never designed for this. The engineer had never intended for this to happen. The plan never included any of what is happening, and yet no one on the train has any hope of regaining control, let alone fixing what has broken.

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I can’t help but think of thoughts such as this when reading this verse. The truth is that apart from God we are lost, confused, helpless, and careening inevitably toward disaster – caught up in sheer chaos. We’re incurring damage all along the way and experiencing otherwise irreparable hurt. Without him, there is no hope for anything to change. It’s an impossibility.  

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If you understand the gravity of your circumstances apart from the Lord, then you know how significant life apart from him is. Maybe you are even experiencing right now, in this moment what it’s like to be on that train – hope seems far off and the likelihood of things being turned around unlikely.

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But Jesus isn’t distant. He’s not unreachable. He’s actually so, so near. He sees you in confusion, in helplessness. He sees you careening out of control toward certain disaster. And he even aches with you at each hurt you experience along the way. His immeasurable love for you, his mercy, his grace, his desire for you to know him – he’s rushing into that disaster. He’s already sacrificed it all to reach you – to make a way to restore you. And now he is inviting you to come live for him.

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Friend, Jesus had compassion for that crowd, and he has compassion for you now. Wherever you are today – wondering if you can trust him, struggling with the biggest battle of your life, stuck in a desert of apathy, or even just another day… he is running toward you. He wants to heal you, restore you, make you whole. He wants to make you look more like him.

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He’s rushed in to meet you where you’re at. His hand is stretched out to you. You don’t have to wait for that thing that you’ve been holding out for to come. You can step into the restoration that he has for you today. And you can begin that journey right now with a simple step: start a relationship with Jesus, his invitation is already there. And if you’ve already given your life to him, know that plan A of his restoration involves you!

Lord, thank you for meeting me exactly where I was – out of control, lost, confused, and in the midst of chaos. I’m so glad that you didn’t just rescue me, but you are restoring me each day. Help me to see the next thing you are wanting to restore in me and the next way you want to use me in your plan to restore all. In Jesus’ name, Amen!