Are you boarded up and abandoned?

Today, after driving back to a place we once lived, I couldn’t believe my eyes at the abandonment of some of the properties after just a few short years. I had to catch my breath because through all the high grass, garbage and piles of unwanted junk were boarded up doors, entry ways and uninhabited pathways that once were gardens and porches filled with children and parents in rocking chairs.

Moss had grown over the sides of the homes and weeds were everywhere. I felt horrible and wondered what happened to the owners to leave their homes, so they were no longer livable? What circumstances came into their lives that they could no longer keep up with day to day living there and did anyone try to help them through it? Were we helpful enough to one another during these past few years? 

I cried at the site and knew God was showing me this very vivid visual to ponder in my heart.

Did the people living there feel abandoned too? Do we sometimes feel God has abandoned us while we feel neglected, overwhelmed and lonely just like these stone walkways that once were walked on in joy?

Or maybe we stopped weeding our own lives and allowed all kinds of garbage in our minds and souls while good life habits flew away like the leaves that were never raked and piled up into heaps? 

Or maybe pain crept in slowly, some kind of hurt, loss or rejection and it ate away our beauty or tragedies that grew too difficult to manage on our own and caused us to tire and neglect? Friends, God will never leave or forsake you for those who love Him! He feels your loss!! He is there with you, holding you close and giving you this very moment to hear His voice, feel His strong loving arms wrapping around you in warmth like a soft, hand sewn quilt. I believe there are so many stories of His perfect timed loving kindness and peace that just can’t be coincidences! He promises in His own words in Joshua 1:9  “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  And in Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Behind your locked doors and shaded windows, He may be desiring to show you, His greatness!

Lamentations 5:19-22 “You, Lord, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation. Why do You always forget us? Why do you forsake us for so long? Restore us to You, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old …” I pray you find Him throwing open your shackled doors and locked windows as you allow Him to shine His ‘Son’shine and warmth in your hidden places that have felt abandoned and forgotten. May you be restored, renewed and built up in His beauty!

Charlenea Kay Wirth    singingheartky@gmail.com