Rita Rose Comes Back
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17
Exactly how long it takes us to recover from fear is individually unique. Our trust has been broken, we feel afraid to trust anyone and our spirit has been fractured. According to Devon O’Day, a contributing author with All God’s Creatures, miracles do happen.
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When a starved, mistreated horse gets pulled into the rescue pipeline, it might take a while for physical change to be apparent. But the mental and spiritual transformation is a different journey and definitely one of miracles.
Rita Rose was a rescue that came to me severely underweight. Her eyes were ringed in fear due to trauma she had experienced from auctions to horse trader to long transports in overcrowded trailers. She didn’t know who she could trust. I kept her separate from the others horses in her own paddock because, not only was she new to the herd, but she was also terrified.
Then something of a miracle happened. After five days of standing back and watching the other horses, Rita Rose pushed through the fence to join them. Her eyes were no longer ringed with fear but alive with the spark of life. It seemed that, in an instant, she became a horse again, and defeat was replaced by victory over everything that had brought her here.
Years of abuse disappeared so quickly as love entered her spirit and changed her from the inside out. Jesus does that for all of us, and if we invite His pure powerful love into our hearts, He makes us new. While we may not forget what we have come through, the past no longer defines us. That is the gift of transformation Christ offers to everyone who asks.
By Christ’s purchasing redemption, two things are intended: His satisfaction and His merit; the one pays our debt, and so satisfies; the other procures our title, and so merits. The satisfaction of Christ is to free us from misery; the merit of Christ is to purchase happiness for us.
–Jonathan Edwards
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We are all called to be like Rita Rose and with God’s help, anything is possible!
Lord Jesus, thank You for healing our minds and hearts. Help us to become alive in You and leave our fears behind. AMEN.