My Redeemer Lives!

Hi friends,

The book of Job is a difficult one for many to read and meditate on, considering how much pain, suffering and questioning is present for the majority of the book. Many times Job cries out to God in anguish asking for answers, then complains at the silence he receives in return. When reading this it feels to me as if Job is despairing at God's seeming lack of care or answer to his cries. But in amongst all this pain, Job makes an astonishing statement of faith: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth." (Job 19:25)

Interestingly, his words immediately before this declaration are, "Oh that my words were written! Oh they they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!" Little did Job know at the time of him uttering these words that his prayer would be answered, and thousands of years later we would have his words in front of us, in a book, available forever. When I think about Job's prayers and declaration of faith in God, even in the middle of all of the pain and suffering he was facing, I am encouraged when it comes to our own situations.

You see, even when it feels completely dark and terribly lonely, and questions swirl around our hearts and minds unanswered, we can know that God hears our prayers and he will answer. This knowledge can stir our hearts to declare in faith what we believe to be true about God, even if our circumstances don't appear to line up right at that very moment.

As we approach the Easter weekend and contemplate both the death and resurrection of Jesus, we can hold on to this truth from Job's lips and inscribed in Scripture forever: we know that our Redeemer lives! Even when it's dark, even when it seems like evil has the upper hand, even when we feel alone, neglected or in pain: our Redeemer lives! And as our Redeemer, he will redeem ALL things in his way and in his time - in his infinite power and love. 

I had a lot of fun with acrylic paints on this page. I started with a background of different coloured paints thinly applied and blended together with a flat paintbrush. I then stamped the daisies from the new Delightful Daisies set, masking the larger image that I stamped first, then stamping others overlapping it so that when I removed the mask, it looked like the flowers were behind and in front of one another. I then added some green paint around the daisy images, blending that into the background. Finally, I added a bit of extra shading and highlights using some coloured pencils. The verse was stamped using a combination of alphabet stickers and His Name (which is such a fabulously useful Bible journaling set!).

Here are the sets I used:

Let's declare the good news of our risen Redeemer in all circumstances...

x Amy x