Can You See Me, Now?Paraugs

Becoming Vibrant

Grandma Rathbun grew up during the Great Depression. Like many others from her generation, it shaped her behaviors for the following decades. Upon her death, she harbored storehouses of staples a family could survive on for more than a year. She never forgot how the world could leave you in dire need. It tempered her very existence, which turned out to be a good thing. The model gave her children the grounding to survive their difficulties.

Life experiences leave a mark. When we find ourselves questioning the point of all this desert wasteland in our midst, we should remember—it’s not just for us. Just as Grandma Rathbun’s life lessons in simplicity and preparation extended beyond her generation for good, your life story reaches past what you can see or comprehend.

The personal transformation we are pursuing is not the sole and solitary reason for all the mess. It’s for your children, neighbors, parents, and anyone in your sphere of influence. Your vibrancy is significant beyond yourself. It is this very thing God wanted to be instilled in the Israelites through that desert journey toward the Promised Land.

You might recall, there was a shorter way to the covenanted ease and comfort. But God could foresee the problems by leading them down the path of ease. Guaranteed war. Sure abandonment (Exodus 13:17-18). The stints of waterless days mixed with years of daily following proved purposeful, even essential to their success.

Where have your desert places been? Those seasons of hurt and days you didn’t know if you would survive that seemed so pointless? What is that place—physical, emotional, or space in time—you are so glad not to be today?

Sweet friend, He brought you out of all of that awfulness, so He might bring you in. For whatever reason, the path to what He promises you requires extended wanderings and suffering. You alone in your heartache helps no one. Your experiences and testimony remembered, told in view of Him, make you striking to a world that needs you to be vibrant in their midst. Someone needs to know what God has done in your life because their life and future may well depend upon it. Show it with your life. As you do, you will be seen for all the right reasons and in all the right ways.

We hope you have found this YouVersion plan to be encouraging! You can read the other 70 days in Cheri's book, Can You See Me, Now? Good news for the lonely, left out, and less than. Cheri would love to connect with you. Visit her website here or reach out to her on social media @cheristrange.