Redeeming-Love-By-Francine-Rivers

F R A N C I N E R I V E R S
none. And he dreamed, dark, confusing dreams with forces that were closing
in on him.
The still, quiet voice didn’t speak to him anymore, not for weeks and
months. God was silent and hidden, his purpose a mystery. Life became
such a barren wasteland that Michael couldn’t bear it anymore, and he cried
out.
“Why have you forsaken me?”
Beloved, I am always with you, even to the end of time.
Michael slowed his frenetic work and sought solace in God’s word. I don’t
understand anything anymore, Lord. Losing her is like losing half of myself. She
loved me. I know she did. Why did you drive her from me?
The answer came to him slowly, with the changing of the seasons.
You shall have no other gods before me.
That couldn’t be right.
Michael’s anger grew. “When have I worshiped anyone but you?” He
raged again. “I’ve followed you all my life. I’ve never put anyone before you.”
Hands fisted, he wept. “I love her, but I never made her my god.”
In the calm that followed his angry torrent of words, Michael heard—
and finally understood.
You became hers.
Angel stood in the middle of the night-shrouded street and watched Harper’s
Cafe burning. Everything she had worked for over the past six months was
burning with it. All she had left was the worn gingham dress she was wearing
and the stained apron that covered it.
There had been so little warning. Virgil had burst into the kitchen yelling
there was a fire. She didn’t even have time to ask questions as he pulled her
outside. Two buildings were burning a few doors away. Then a breeze came
up and swept the fire right down through the remaining buildings on the
block.
People were running helter-skelter, some in panic, some shouting directions,
others gathering and passing water buckets frantically in an attempt to
contain the fire, but it was no use. Ash and smoke filled the air, and the
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