“Redemption is never the end but a means to the ultimate end: Adoption. Attachment. Salvation by God is ultimately for attachment to God. Everything on the way, or in the way, is making a way to be soul-attached to the One who is the Way, who can do nothing less than carry you through every heartache to home.”- Ann Voskamp
As Ann Voskamp moves on in Chapter 5 of WayMaker, she underscores that life is hard. Because the way of love is hard. Yet, Jesus, Love Himself, walks with you every step of the way. Above all, Ann observes, God’s love for us ultimately equates to a covenant to suffer with us. Therefore, redemption makes a way for spiritual adoption, atonement makes a way for attachment. So, atonement = at-one-ment, God one with us in our sufferings.
Consequently, Ann exhorts:
“In the logic of God, life embraces suffering, and they travel as one, and there is nothing to fear on the way because you are in the Way Himself and He is fail-safe. . . . so, let all the pounding waves crack and crash; the cross points the way for us all to climb up into the safe chambers of His heart. . . . God’s ways are always to make a way to rest in His strong arms and trace His kind face, especially in the pitch-black dark.”
In conclusion, Ann encourages, always look the right way. And as you allow the compass hands to turn, let God reorient all your ways. Center your quest for the meaning of life in being found in God’s great love – here and now. Not in seeking the good life.
Thus, when everything shifts and quakes, God lifts, turns, and holds your chin. As a result, when something blocks your way, lay your head on the shoulder of Jesus, the One who cannot let you go. Ann adds:
“There is a time to hold close the mysterious way of the heart and simply trust the way love doesn’t make sense but always has the best sense of direction.”
Today’s question: What Bible verses help carry you through every heartache to home? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “All roads lead through suffering”
