Reflecting on this last decade…

There were long stretches that felt like winter: uncertain, quiet, even disorienting at times. And yet, over and over, I sensed the Lord whispering the same thing:

“Just do the next right thing. I have you. I’m holding you with both arms.”

Recently, I learned something that stopped me in my tracks…

The Hebrew word for winter, when reversed, spells 'blossoming'.

What a picture. 🥶 ➡️ 🌸

A reminder that every season, especially the ones that feel barren, carry both purpose and promise. That at the end of a cycle, there will be flowers that bloom and fruit that yields.  🌺 🍎 

Even more beautiful…

The Hebrew root meaning of “blossom” carries the idea of becoming the flying ones, a picture of freedom and maturity. 🕊️

And the root word of “winter”?

Means 'betrothal', pointing to a season of deeper intimacy, of being drawn closer in trust and union with Jesus… even when nothing outwardly seems to be blooming. 

These were my winters.  Not necessarily absence, but more than that, it has been an intimate invitation over and over. "Come away with Me, Van."

And it brings me to this promise:

Jeremiah 29:10–14…

A popular passage we often quote, but rarely sit inside of.

God speaks to His people in exile, people whose lives didn’t look anything like they expected or wanted. And He says, essentially, "When the time is complete, I will come to you. I will keep my promise.”

He reminds them, and us,

“I know the plans I have for you… plans for peace, to give you a future and a hope.”

But here’s what’s striking…

The word “know” (yada, used 1000x in Bible) isn’t intellectual or just an idea, it’s experiential.

To 'know' God is to encounter Him with your senses and experiences. 

And the Hebrew meaning of the word “plans” isn’t rigid or fixed. It's used about 120x in the Bible. It carries the meaning of a reckoning and new ideas. 💡 

Which means…

God is not handing us a static blueprint. Ah, hope rises just writing that out. 🎈 

He is actively, creatively, personally unfolding new expressions of His goodness in our lives daily. This makes my heart swoon! 💞

His plans may shift and adjust into new ideas… But His purpose does not. 

His purpose is singular and steady:

That we would be formed into His image. That we would become one with Him.

So in the winter… we are being betrothed. And from that place of intimacy… we emerge blossoming. 

❤️➡️🌹

Free.

Mature.

Fruit-bearing.

Becoming people who don’t just rise…

But who also help others lift their eyes to the One who knows them intimately too. So that they could intimately know Him too. 

The One who holds new ideas, new mercy, new invitation for each and every one of us! Can you feel your hope rise reading that? 🎈 

And then there’s this…

The Hebrew word “future” in this passage can carry the sense of “what comes after” coming from the meaning "backwards afterwards" almost like sailing forward while looking back.  I have felt this so deeply. But the Lord has gently retrained my gaze, to not just relive or analyze my past, but behold His history with me. ⛵️

Isn't that true? Because the truth is… We don’t actually see the future.

We step forward by what God has already done, and only in hindsight do we see the path He was faithfully unfolding beneath our feet.

We sail into the future guided by the testimony of His faithfulness in our past. This puts a groove in my heart! 💓

History with God becomes our compass. 🧭 Wisdom holds both what has been and what is promised, both history and vision. 

And this is where peace comes from.

Because when God spoke this to His people, His plans didn’t match their expectations at all. Their world felt unstable. Their identity felt shaken.

And still… He invited them to trust Him.

To release certainty…

And choose confidence in His character and His heart postured toward me instead. I can still recall how deeply I once longed to know this, and how grateful I am to now embody it. 

So when I reflect on this last decade, what often felt like a large detour has been much more of a deeper rooting.

A winter of becoming…

That was quietly preparing me to blossom into freedom, fruitfulness, and deeper union with Him. 🕊️ 🍇❤️

God wants to override our uncertainty with deep relational trust in Him…  ❤️ 

*The kind of trust that lets us rest in His arms before we ever understand His plans.

*Where being held matters more than having it all figured out. 

At 50, this is where I have ended up. Where I no longer demand to see the path, because I've fallen in love with the One who leads it. I no longer grip for clarity, but keep surrendering to the One I love and who already holds all the outcomes.  🕊️ 

Jesus, may my uncertainty fully lose its voice and may your presence continue to be the loudest voice I live by.  I love you. You are worth it all. 💎 

To the King! 👑

Many people carry an image of God that is quiet, restrained, distant, or emotionally neutral. In this view, God may be loving, but in a calm, almost detached way, as if His affection is polite rather than passionate and personally engaging.

Yet when we look closely at Scripture, especially through the lens of the original Hebrew and Greek, we discover something very different.

The God revealed in the Bible is not passive toward His people.

He is not casual about you.

He is emotionally engaged, relationally invested, and deeply moved by His love for you.

The language of Scripture repeatedly describes God as pursuing, rejoicing, longing, protecting, celebrating, and feeling deep compassion toward His people. And in many places, the English translations actually soften the emotional intensity of the original words.

When we look beneath the surface, we discover a God whose heart is profoundly alive.

God Pursues Us

One of the most beautiful pictures of God’s love appears in Psalm 23. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

The English word "follow” sounds mild. It can sound like God’s goodness is simply trailing behind us at a distance. This is not the case. 

But the Hebrew word used here is radaph, which means to pursue, chase, run after and even to hunt down.
This means the verse could be understood as:

“Surely goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life.”

God’s kindness is not walking slowly behind you. His mercy is chasing you down.

Jesus describes this same heart when He explains His mission: Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”

God is not waiting passively for us to find our way back to Him.
He seeks us.
He searches for us.
He pursues us with relentless love.

God Delights in Us

Scripture also describes something that surprises many people: God takes joy in His people.

Zephaniah 3:17

“The Lord your God is in your midst… He will delight in you with great joy.

He will quiet you with His love.

He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Two Hebrew words in this passage intensify the meaning.

Giyl refers to joy so exuberant it spins or dances with celebration.

Sus means to leap for joy or exult in delight.

The image is astonishing! God rejoices over His people like someone celebrating a great victory.He is not quietly pleased with you. He is demonstratively leaping in joy over you!

He not only takes delight in you but celebrates you!

Scripture repeats this theme: Psalm 149:4 “For the Lord takes pleasure in His people.”

And in Isaiah we see one of the most intimate metaphors in the Bible: Isaiah 62:5 “As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”

The joy of a groom on his wedding day, overflowing, enthralled, emotional, is the picture God uses to describe how He feels toward His people. Can you feel it?

God Feels Deep Compassion

Another powerful Hebrew word reveals the depth of God’s emotional attachment.

The word racham is often translated as compassion, but its root word is rechem, which literally means womb. It describes the fierce, protective tenderness a mother feels toward her infant.

God uses this exact imagery when speaking to His people:

Isaiah 49:15–16 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”

Jesus does not stand far off, watching our struggles from a distance.
He feels them with us. He understands them deeply.
And He steps into the middle of them, walking with us through every moment.

God even compares His compassion to the strongest attachment bond known in the human experience, a mother’s love for her child, showing just how deeply and instinctively His heart moves toward us.

And then He says His love is even stronger.

Another remarkable verse reveals the emotional movement of God’s heart: Hosea 11:8 “My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.”

This language is relational and deeply emotional. God is not described as unmoved or stoic. His heart responds.

Jesus Shares Our Emotional Experience

The New Testament continues this same picture through the life of Jesus.

One of the most striking Greek words used to describe Jesus is splagchnizomai.

This word literally refers to the inner organs, which in the ancient world were believed to be the seat of deep emotion. It means: to be moved with deep, gut-level compassion.

We see this word used again and again when Jesus encounters human suffering.

Matthew 9:36 “When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them.”

This compassion was not intellectual sympathy. It was visceral. Jesus felt it in the depths of His being. And Scripture tells us that Jesus understands our emotional life as well.

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses.”

Jesus does not stand far off, watching our struggles from a distance.
He feels them with us.
He understands them deeply.
And He steps into the middle of them, walking with us through every moment. 

God Draws Us With Tender Love

God’s love is not only powerful, it is also gentle. It carries strength that protects, yet tenderness that heals.

Jeremiah 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.”

And in Hosea, God describes His relationship with His people using deeply tender imagery:

Hosea 11:4 “I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love.”

The picture is one of drawing someone close, not forcing them from a distance. God wants to move toward us with both strength and tenderness.

God Acts With Power on Our Behalf

Scripture also repeatedly describes God’s outstretched arm, a symbol of action and protection. It is the arm that rescues, defends, and reaches toward His people.
Itt is extended, ready to save, to carry, and to bring His people safely through.

His arm is stretched out not in anger toward His children, but in powerful love that intervenes on their behalf.

Isaiah 41:10

“I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 59:1

“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save.”

Deuteronomy 4:34

“The Lord your God brought you out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.”

God’s love is not passive whatsoever.  It moves. It intervenes. It rescues.

God Longs for Relationship

One of the most striking verses describing God’s relational desire appears in the book of James

James 4:5  “He jealously longs for the Spirit He has caused to dwell in us.”

This is holy jealousy, the kind that longs for closeness, connection, and covenant relationship.
It reveals a God who does not settle for distance but deeply desires our hearts and our presence with Him.

The Big Picture

When we step back and look at the whole story of Scripture, the portrait becomes unmistakable.

God is not emotionally distant.

He is a Father moved with compassion.

He is a Bridegroom rejoicing over His beloved

He is a Shepherd pursuing the lost

He is a Deliverer with an outstretched arm

He is a Lover who sings over His people

Here is a more emotionally rich and flowing version of your reflection:

God’s love is not distant or indifferent.
It is alive, active, passionate, protective, and deeply personal.

He doesn’t stand far away watching life unfold.
He moves toward us.

He pursues us when we wander.
He delights in us with joy.
He feels deep compassion when we are hurting.
He draws near when we feel alone.
He celebrates when we return, when we grow, when we take even the smallest step toward Him.

And in Jesus, we see something breathtaking:
God does not remain distant from the human story.

He steps into it.

He enters our pain, our struggles, our questions, and our brokenness.
He walks among us, feels what we feel, and carries what we cannot.

God is not passive toward you.
He is not indifferent about your life.
He is not casually observing from a distance.

His heart is moved toward you.

He seeks you.
He welcomes you.
He loves you with intention, with tenderness, and with relentless grace. 

I am so grateful to be loved by God.