I began with Matthew 5:13ff, and my Father was with me tonight! I’m not really sure what point this passage was supposed to have in the retreat structure, but my Father showed me words of encouragement. “Be careful not to let the faith grow flat and stale. Keep it lively so it will be like a city on a hill—a beacon of hope for all mankind!”

Jesus is supposed to see the world as a field full of weeds in Matthew 13:24ff, but my Father showed me a field full of wheat, enough to fill up the owner’s barn come harvest time, but with weeds in the field, too.

In Matthews 9:36, He sees sheep without a shepherd, but He turns around and tells His followers that the harvest is so good, they’d better pray for more laborers to bring it in! The shepherd has come!

In Luke 9:41 Jesus is exasperated with the people, but in the next breath says, “Bring you son to Me.” He casts out the demon—a victory prefiguring His Great Victory.

Isaiah 1 gives us Israel as the unfaithful wife, but my Father showed me that from this wife came His Spotless Daughter (Mary) who gave Him His Perfect Son. He brought not only good from a bad situation here, but perfection! This was the ultimate purpose of the covenant with Israel.

I really felt out of step with the retreat, so I asked my Father why He was giving me the perspective that He was, rather than letting me see just how serious sin is in the world. He reminded me that He hadn’t let me see the Crucifixion, either—only the victory that it was. He gave me one word then—“Hope!”—and I knew He wanted me to be filled from top to bottom with that word. So be it!