As If The Setback Never Happened...

This confession is by far my most favorite confession in the whole devotional, Confessions for the Narrow Road: a Journey with My Mom, and I'll tell you why. The verse God gave my mom in 1999 was "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." (Psalm 19:14, KJV) As I wrote this reflection, I was focused on wanting my words and my thoughts to please God. But what struck me even more was looking at God as my rock and my redeemer. I was to see God as my firm foundation. When I wrote the words "He redeems the time, to make it as if the setback never happened" I was so struck by God's goodness and His ability to "undo" all the ways I had messed up my life over the years due to episodes I had with bipolar disorder. I felt like the Holy Spirit was talking right to me in that moment of writing, to say, "Loretta, I know you feel like you've messed up again and your life can never be made right. But when you put your life in my hands, the hands of the redeemer, you will find that I make it such that your setbacks never happened! I'll make your life so much better, that those setbacks become stepping stones to take you up higher to where I have planned for you to go."

That's the message of this confession and I hope that you can take it for yourself and see that God can be your strength, your rock and your redeemer. He can take any setback and turn it into something amazing. I hope that as you read some of these blog entries and learn more about the confessions I wrote and the verses God gave my mom in these years, that it will encourage you and inspire you to seek God for yourself and for a guiding scripture each year. I also hope that you will get the book when it comes out in a few weeks. Mother's day is right around the corner and I believe this book will make a great gift for your mother in this season. So, maybe one for yourself and one for her :)