Love Rescue Me

I said love, love rescue me

I said love
Climb up the mountains, said love
I said love, oh my love
On the hill of the son
I'm on the eve of a storm
And my word you must believe in
Oh, I said love, rescue me
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah...

Yeah I'm here without a name
In the palace of my shame
I said love rescue me

I've conquered my past
The future is here at last
I stand at the entrance
To a new world I can see
The ruins to the right of me
Will soon have lost sight of me
Love rescue me

~Bono and Bob Dylan

Recently, I read a blog belonging to a dear and sweet friend of mine, Christopher. He was sharing his thoughts on his present season of transition. It sparked some thoughts concerning my own journey.

Men, this one is for free.... Women have a deep desire to be rescued. It's honestly residual from the fall of mankind in the garden. Had it not been for the fall, women would never have had the need to be rescued. The flip side is true for men. It seems each of my brothers, and both of my sons have a desire to rescue. Even little two year old Isaac plays the hero in imaginary Camelot with his sisters and older brother, Timmy. The less than 3 feet tall, little warrior storms the castle with his foam sword in hand to rescue the fair maiden being held against her will by a sinister rivaling king. The play comes naturally.

In pondering Christopher's thoughts of leaving the old territory of the past and embarking on a journey to as he called it, "New Home", I watched the chivalrous play of the children unfold this morning and I thought of a U2 song, "Love Rescue Me." The song ends well! Love rescues, and the past is conquered. The future has become the present. The ruins of the past are fading into the distance. The New World is in sight! My friend nearly prophetically wrote, "What’s more, these in-between days will themselves come to an end at some point, perhaps sooner than I expect. And in the bittersweet interim, my hope is to forbear, graciously and with a serene attention to the tasks at hand, until the day I may face new glories and challenges: ..." His words and my children all danced to this U2 song and I realized though I am not" Home" yet, nor am I standing on the soil of my "New World", my arrival is inevitable. These in-between days will come to an end. But until I find my feet sinking deep into the sand of my "New World" I have set my mind on the "tasks at hand".

Today, I was reading the first chapter of Isaiah. My task at hand is simply defending the cause of fatherless children. These fatherless children are my children. They are simply joyful and my incredible blessings! In my six little blessings are hidden treasures I will find down the road as they grow older and mature. What a privilege that God has chosen me as the rescuer of my fatherless children. Truthfully, it is definitely tiring, but the reward will be well worth it in the end. The consequence of obedience is tasty and delicious! Whereas the consequence of rebellion is not so yummy. Just as we surely reap a harvest if we do not grow weary in doing good. God is not mocked, and one absolutely reaps what he or she sows. On the topic of reaping and sowing, blessing and cursing, obedience and rebellion, this is what God says in Isaiah 1:17-31,

"17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed. [a]
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

18 "Come now, let us reason together,"
says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land;

20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword."
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

21 See how the faithful city
has become a harlot!
She once was full of justice;
righteousness used to dwell in her—
but now murderers!

22 Your silver has become dross,
your choice wine is diluted with water.

23 Your rulers are rebels,
companions of thieves;
they all love bribes
and chase after gifts.
They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
the widow's case does not come before them.

24 Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
"Ah, I will get relief from my foes
and avenge myself on my enemies.

25 I will turn my hand against you;
I will thoroughly purge away your dross
and remove all your impurities.

26 I will restore your judges as in days of old,
your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you will be called
the City of Righteousness,
the Faithful City."

27 Zion will be redeemed with justice,
her penitent ones with righteousness.

28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken,
and those who forsake the LORD will perish.

29 "You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks
in which you have delighted;
you will be disgraced because of the gardens
that you have chosen.

30 You will be like an oak with fading leaves,
like a garden without water.

31 The mighty man will become tinder
and his work a spark,
both will burn together,
with no one to quench the fire."


I have discovered through accepting the call of the Lord to be obedient in rescuing my children, He, my Love is rescuing me. He is healing my heart, and keeping it soft toward Him and the world around me. He is fostering new hope and vision of the "New World" He has prepared for me and my children. Just as in Song of Solomon when the Shulamite is asked to join her Beloved and climb the mountain of Myrrh, I have climbed His Mountain, and He has rescued me on the eve of the storm. I died to my own desires by giving up the ideal I clung to for so many years. I died and relinquished my ideals and dreams so that my children would live in peace, that He would take away all the impurities and call them a City of Righteousness, the Faithful City. I let go of death, and now cling to the Author of the Promise of Life and the "New World" He has revealed through His word. In choosing to be obedient my children have been rescued, and myself as well. The ruins we have left behind, the past, the brokenness and broken relationship with a husband and a father are quickly fading into the distance as His "New World" grows bigger on the horizon. Welcome, "New World"!