It seemed fitting that writing the final installment of our Emptying Our Way to Fullness series coincided with the final week of our annual commitment to set aside the first 21 days of January as a time of fasting and prayer. Not surprisingly, both endeavors have brought their own set of fresh insights and revelations. Speaking of which, earlier this week, God chose to demonstrate once again that He’s prone to communicate with us in ways and at times that are totally unexpected – and sometimes He inserts a totally different plan than the one we’re working on.

An Unexpected Interruption ~
For instance, I was in the midst of a workout at the gym and, as usual, praise and worship music was being transmitted quietly from my phone directly through my hearing aids into my ears. I wasn’t paying conscious attention to the music because I was too busy wondering if elliptical machines were inspired by demons. In any case, a song came on that I wasn’t really familiar with and as it played, I only remember hearing one word. I didn’t get the name of the song or the artist singing it, but hearing that single word caused a scene I had witnessed on a news report earlier in the day to instantly fill my mind. 

I realized when I had first seen the video that the camera had captured a very special moment, but I didn’t think much more about it at the time. When that one word seemed to sort of rise above the melody, it was like the scene I had witnessed earlier just exploded in my mind. I don’t know how to express it any other way. Suddenly, I couldn’t get my eyes to see anything else, and it was as though God wanted to be sure I didn’t miss what it represented. So, as the interaction unfolded with Him, it became clear that my original plan for the concluding session of this series was now being ‘replaced’.   

So, what follows will represent my inadequate attempt to use finite and pathetically insufficient words to point out the incredible power and inexpressible depth of what God communicated in a simple, brief image. Unfortunately, I  haven’t accessed the image itself, so I won’t be sharing it with you visually, but I’ll do my best to describe what I saw and what I think God was trying to show me.  

More than a Word ~
The word in the song that prompted my reaction was ‘rescued’, and the video it brought to life for me was part of a recent news report covering the release of three Israeli hostages … three young women who had been held captive by Hamas terrorists since the October 7, 2023 attack. The report included a powerful, emotionally charged moment when one of them, whose name is Emily Damari, was shown reuniting with her mother. It was the kind of scene that might be expected for a family coming together after enduring a living nightmare for over 400 days. Tears of joy and relief flowed as Emily ran into her mother’s arms, and they wrapped themselves tightly in a collective embrace. Watching it was intensely moving at the moment, but I discovered later in the day that God had some commentary to add that the news anchor would never have thought about. 

As I sat there on the machine in the gym, a voice in my mind as vivid and explicit as the scene itself said, This is what being rescued looks like. Then after a brief pause, This, yes, ‘this’ is what redemption feels like. 

Another Powerful Reunion ~
Each side of the relational equation I was watching played itself out inside me as I struggled to contain the emotional impact. As I thought about what that moment meant to Emily and her mother, I thought about a comment Jesus made in a story that included another reunion. We call it the parable of the prodigal son – the Jewish people call it, “The Running Father” – and here’s what Jesus said about that reunion:

And he [the lost son] arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. (Luke 15:20 NKJV)

That young British-Israeli girl had been suddenly and violently assaulted. She was physically bound and dragged off to dark, underground tunnels by people who hated her for no other reason than that she was Jewish. They took her away from the mother who gave her life, from the place she knew as home, from other family and friends she loved, and from everything good about the life she loved. She had no power to fight back, no defense against any cruel, painful, humiliating, and demeaning thing they wanted to do to her. She had no analgesic for the pain they inflicted and no way to hide from the shame as she huddled in the dark and cried out for some vestige of hope that she would ever see home or her mother again. 

Held Hostage in a Different Way ~
Though they weren’t physically bound and confined in a tunnel, Emily’s mother and family were held hostage as well. Their bodies weren’t beaten and humiliated like hers, but they were tortured in a different way and wracked with pain of a different sort. Their blood may not have been spilled in the street, but their tears flowed without end from a heart that felt ripped apart. Their emotions ran the gauntlet from inexpressible grief to uncontrollable rage. Not knowing what was actually happening to her at any given moment, but knowing what could be happening, with no means of defense, made their own imaginations a captor that tortured them daily and became the nightly enemy of sleep. They had no political power to wield, no army to command, no economic leverage to apply, and no weapons to wield except for prayer and faith. Their struggle to maintain their own weakening grip on hope confronted them daily. 

Then, just this past Monday morning, over 400 days and nights of hell ended for both of them. Emily finally beheld again the first faces she’d learned to love, the one who had given her life. Those who had guided her, protected her, provided for her, and who would have given their lives for her if they could have, were waiting to hold her again. Now after all those days thinking she’d never see them again, there they were. No words can adequately describe what that would have been like. But that’s what being rescued looks like. That’s what redemption feels like.

Those waiting for her that morning had been waiting a long, long time. Their days filled with anguish were finally over. The tears flowing now were a river of gratitude, praise, relief, and something akin to what Peter described as joy unspeakable and full of glory. And I heard those words again. That’s what being rescued looks like. That’s what redemption feels like!

As Emily gripped her mom with all the strength she had, her mother kissed her, stroked her hair, wrapped her arms around her, and held onto her with something that looked like desperation. Yet it wasn’t that at all. Desperation is negative, and what I saw wasn’t that. She held her as though she wanted to show the world that her love was stronger than all the evil the world could throw at them.

Then God seemed to deliver His concluding message to me, and it sounded like this . . .

“You’re writing about seeking fullness, right? Well, that scene you’ve been watching is the kind of fullness everyone really wants – not bank accounts, mansions, gadgets, and fame. What we want is love with depth that can’t be measured, oneness no evil can challenge, and a future that time cannot measure.

So … What worthless clutter would you not be willing to empty from your life now to be filled with love like that?” 

God wants us to be rescued and redeemed. He wants that not only for us, but also for Himself. After all, He’s the One who was tortured, abused, humiliated, nailed to a cross, and who expelled his last breath to rescue us and bring us home to Him. Think about that … Wouldn’t it be a beautiful thing now to engage the rest of this new year with our arms wrapped tightly around Him, our hearts one with His, and with our lives displaying the love no evil can overcome?

“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to Tweet & Share from the pull quotes below. Each quote links directly to this article through Twitter.

• • • Not knowing what was actually happening to her at any given moment, but knowing what could be happening, with no means of defense, made their own imaginations a captor that tortured them daily and became the nightly enemy of sleep. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 
    • The tears flowing now were a river of gratitude, praise, relief, and something akin to what Peter described as joy unspeakable and full of glory. I heard those words again. That’s what being rescued looks like. That’s what redemption feels like! @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 
    • What we want is love with depth that can’t be measured, oneness no evil can challenge, and a future that time cannot measure. What worthless clutter would you not be willing to empty from your life now to be filled with love like that?” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 
    • God wants us to be rescued and redeemed. He wants that not only for us, but also for Himself. After all, He’s the One who was tortured, abused, humiliated, nailed to a cross, and who expelled his last breath to rescue us and bring us home to Him. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 

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