Monday, May 18, 2009

S'wonderful, Marvelous...

I'm newly back from a wonderful weekend women's retreat at Cannon Beach. The weather was amazing, and I have the sunburned nose and neck to prove it! I had a fantastic time getting to know some women that I only knew a little before and others that I didn't know at all. And all day long, thoughts have been swirling in my head about the weekend. I know there is a blog in there, but the thoughts still need to percolate a bit before they're ready to spill out into anything meaningful.

So for now, here's my quick take away from the weekend...it's all about the sunburn. This morning I was very gingerly applying a healthy glob of soothing aloe to my very sunburned neck. As I carefully smoothed it over my lobster skin, the coolness of the gel just felt so amazing and healing. Then a thought popped into my head, "That's how it is with God!" When I have sinned, His forgiveness takes away the sting. When my soul is tired, His peace soothes the weary places. And when my heart is hurting, His love brings healing and refreshment. Just like aloe to sunburned skin; God removes the pain in His time and we start fresh again.

S'wonderful! And I'm just hoping that God isn't offended by being compared to a glob of aloe! Because it's marvelous!

1 comment:

Carol McElfresh said...

Jesus used so many practical examples to make His points...I can relate to using the aloe to take the "sting" out of the sunburn,as God takes the sting out of our sin with His great love and forgiveness. Thank you for the encouragement. I'll be a regular visitor for sure!