What God Restored Jeremiah 29:11 - Personal Blog of Trisha Rapley, Australian Author.

There was a time I gave up.

For years, I gave up on love, on connection, on the idea that hearts could meet without fracture, without betrayal, without the slow erosion of trust.

I had built walls around my heart, high and silent, the only sound the echo of disappointments, the weight of promises broken by hands I thought would hold me. Each betrayal etched itself into my soul, each lie made the walls taller, thicker, until it seemed impossible that anyone could ever reach me again.

I told myself it was safer this way—safer to be guarded than hopeful, safer to be alone than wounded again.

And yet, He remained.

Jesus. He stood in the quiet places, in the pauses between fear and faith, reminding me that love is not lost, even when the world has taken everything else.

He did not force my heart open.

He waited.

He healed what I could not name, softened what had grown rigid from survival, and whispered hope when despair threatened to settle like dust. When I feared I would never love again, He held me steady and said, "You are still capable. You are still chosen. You are still Mine."

Slowly, the walls did not fall—they loosened. Brick by brick, prayer by prayer, tear by tear. And in the space where fear once ruled, trust began to breathe again.

And then, almost without notice, a new connection began.

Not rushed, not forced, but unfolding like dawn breaking over a long night.

Giving love, giving connection a chance, became a dance—a sacred rhythm between two hearts that had been guided, healed, and held by God. Every glance carried reverence. Every touch felt intentional. Every shared breath whispered, "This is different. This is safe."

This love is not like the echoes of the past. It cannot be measured against the hollow imitations I once called “love.” It carries a sanctity, a divine signature, because God is present in its foundation.

It does not demand perfection, only honesty.

It does not rush healing, only honours it.

It is a once-in-a-lifetime connection, a melody written by fate and faith together, a union of hearts that recognise one another through the grace of God.

To give love again is to surrender fear. To step into vulnerability knowing the risk—and choosing faith anyway.

It is trusting that Jesus has prepared this heart for what it has longed for, even when it forgot how to hope. It is a love that softens and strengthens all at once, that frees without frightening, that holds without consuming.

This love dances—even after silence and heartbreak, even after walls and guarded tears. It dances because it knows it has been guided, protected, and blessed from above. It knows it is not born of desperation, but of restoration.

And in this connection, I see the miracle: that love, when it comes through God, is not fragile, is not fleeting, is not measured by what came before.

It is whole.

It is steady.

It is rooted deeper than fear could ever reach.

This is the love I had almost abandoned. The love I had almost forsaken. But God kept me. He guided me through the breaking, through the waiting, through the healing. And He brought me here—to a heart that can meet mine fully, to a connection that carries eternity in every moment, to a joy that does not erase the past but redeems it.

What once tried to destroy my faith in love has now become the testimony of its return. And I know now—nothing was wasted.

Not the pain.

Not the waiting.

Not the tears.

Because God was writing a love that could only exist after surrender, after healing, after Him.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

Lord,

Thank you for holding my heart when I wanted to harden, for protecting me from despair when trust had been broken, and for showing me that love, true and sacred, is never lost in your hands.

Thank you for guiding me to a connection that reflects your grace, for a love that is patient, tender, and whole, for a joy that only you could orchestrate.

Help me to remain faithful in giving love again, to trust even when fear lingers, and to let my heart dance in your presence, knowing that every sacred connection comes from you.

Bless this once-in-a-lifetime love, Lord, and let it flourish in your truth, be protected by your hand, and anchored in your eternal presence.

Amen.

What God Restored Jeremiah 29:11 - Personal Blog of Trisha Rapley, Australian Author.

What God Restored Jeremiah 29:11 - Personal Blog of Trisha Rapley, Australian Author.