You are a saint.
Let’s start there. You, loved one, are a saint – named that by the very God who created you to be His own. You will not be found on locket, and your name won’t be found in prayer books. But let this not escape you. You are a saint. Grace and peace are yours – given to you by your Lord.
Oh, how God deserves such praise for what He has provided through the life of Jesus Christ. His most holy gifts overflow for you, designed for you before time made its mark and this world became our home. Rewind now to before the beginning, before life and birth and striving and falling and paradise and that Voice speaking “it is good.” Before anything began, the conversation included you. You as orphan no more, you as child with legacy, you as beautiful beyond measure. You as stumbling, learning to walk, learning to run, learning to dance, learning to be still and be embraced heir of Kingdom of Heaven. That moment could not wait to celebrate this moment, with grace poured out like champagne and love falling down like confetti. You have the DNA of divinity in your veins, redeeming even the most fragile parts of you. You are forgiven for every forgotten kindness and intentional hardship and for lifting high your life rather than laying it down for a life so beautiful. You are welcomed in to the conversation now, listening intently as “this is My will – this is My good pleasure” is spoken. You get to see His desire to gather. Oh, God loves to gather His people. All creation sings when His people are gathered.
He is gathering now, and He says, “You, saint, will help. Share the champagne and confetti with another now.”
And you are His people. His lineage. You are the photo He shows with a smile. You are the stories He tells. He holds out His inheritance – an inheritance filled with hope and glory. He puts a ring on your finger and says “this one – My own.” He gives you wax seal for every moment that stamps it with “leading to holiness.” He is there when in darkness you snap the seal, to repair and restore. He will not allow the seal to bear another mark – He will keep you even when you are not keeping Him.
Because you were in His heart before time became time. And so every day is filled with new mercies for you. Every day is filled with amazing grace for you. Every moment is filled with divinity for you.
You, the saint.
And so I give thanks for you. I give thanks for your life and your faith and the story that’s being written in and through you. I give thanks that I get to pray bold prayers for you – prayers for your present and prayers for your future, prayers for wisdom and discernment and understanding, prayers for your eyes be able to take in all that He has prepared for you. Both for this life and for eternity. I pray you are refreshed by His power that knows no limits and restored by His love that is boundless. I pray you see yourself as you are seen through the brilliance of Jesus. Radiant, resplendent, always new. He is Lord, He is King, He is Ruler, He is Head. And you, saint, are complete in Him.
You call me a saint. You, God All-Mighty, call me a saint. When I am trapped in the mire of my own making, you call me a saint. When I am weary of endless days chilled to the bone, you call me a saint. When I am blazing for You and all feels like heaven’s gate, you call me a saint. You celebrate me with champagne and confetti and you tell me, “Gather others. Gather My people now.” I am not an afterthought or an alternative. You call me saint. That overwhelms me. I am undone in its beauty. You say You are right there, ready to reveal Your purpose, ready to reveal Your plan. You have so much to share with me – glimpses into stories not yet told, stories of rescue and stories of hope. Stories you say have my name written in, stories you say have a place for my prayers and obedience. Sweet Jesus, please give me Your strength to walk in faith and in wisdom and boundless love. May I see myself through Your brilliance today? May I see myself as resplendent and always new? May I honor you in my steps today – may they be the steps of a saint who glories in her divine heritage, who sees such worth in her inheritance, who finds herself humbly serving with gratitude the Creator of saints?