“My soul sings
My soul sings
How I love You
We’re standing still in a moment of eternity
Where worlds collide and I feel the breath of heaven over me…” My Soul Sings by Cory Asbury
There are days when you feel forsaken by God, though of course, you know the truth; “For He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
Last Wednesday was the last day of my Human development and evolution of consciousness class. I got to the class and I didn’t know it was the last day of the class. (Yes, you can freely go ahead and judge me). 2019 has been a full year for me, to say the least. God knows I didn’t know it was the last day of my class because I am negligent.
The way God fills one’s days with His will.
Something interesting happened in that last class meeting though, well, actually two interesting things happened. One, my classmates talked about another class that we had had together in the Winter quarter and how the professor in that class was kind of rough with their papers. This Winter class they were talking about, was also another class that I arrived on the last day of the class without knowing it was the last day; and not only that, the final paper was due on that same day. I had asked the professor for an extension, which he kindly gave to me. What was the grace in all of this, you ask? Last Wednesday I realized that I had received an A+ on that Winter quarter class final paper; this was amazing grace because of two reasons: 1. This was a paper that was turned in late and 2. It received a grade higher than those who turned in their papers on time.
God will carry you where it makes no sense.
I am not here to tell you about my grades and how I got an A+; I am here to tell you that God will always be enough in all the areas that He knows you are not. The question is, will you let God be enough for you? How do you let God be enough for you, you ask? You follow Him even when it doesn’t make sense because you know He will always provide and be more than enough wherever He leads.
“And all I want is just to know Your heart
And would You keep me here until we’re One…” My Soul Sings
Here is the second interesting thing that happened, as I sat in the last day of my class, I felt so disappointed in myself; for two consecutive quarters, I have had at least one class that I arrived at the last class meeting and I had absolutely no idea that it was the final class meeting. Though I was disappointed in myself, I knew in my heart of hearts that I had not been negligent or unfaithful with the way I had been using the time God gives. So as the end of the class we did a meditation, which was typical. And as we did the meditation, I got this image of being held by God. What a grace Lord, to walk with You every day and moment by moment. Can a heart contain this joy, this care that You amazingly show us?
God will faithfully carry you in your disappointments and your not-enough moments.
Three weeks ago, I was noting down my thankfulness to the Lord and wrote the below:
“Thank You, God for writing part of Your story in me, through me, and for me.
I am Yours (this is always a reminder for me not for You for I am engraved in the palm of Your hands. (Isaiah 49:16)
Isaiah 49:14-16
O Lord, I have felt forsaken, even more so today.
14 “But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.”
Your answer Father is leaking grace to my weary heart.
15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before Me.”
Father, You are so good! Thank You for being so good to me though my heart and flesh never cease to fail You. Your blood covers me. God, truly Your blood covers me. Father, help me be faithful with the time You have given me. “So teach me to number my days that I may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
Beholding God
Each day there are waves that threaten to toss us left and right. Each day there are temptations to forget that each moment God is holding us. Who hasn’t forgotten to breathe when everything around doesn’t make any sense? But God is the very breath that keeps your lungs in motion. God is the One who decides if you are taking your next breath and your next. And how do you keep your life from being tossed by the winds of life and the lies of the enemy? You behold your Creator, and day in and day out you remind yourself of all that He has done for you, and also what He is doing for you at this very moment.
Your unbearable moments become bearable when you behold the One who holds your breath.
“Well, a central concept in the Christian concept of God has always been that God is doing something. He is never inactive or silent. But He does not receive His directions from us. He doesn’t conform His action to our desires.” As Kingfishers Catch Fires by Eugene H. Peterson
We have got to behold the Lord’s glory until we are oblivious to the fires we are standing in until we are not threatened by the fires we are in.
Isn’t that what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did when they were threatened to be thrown into a burning furnace if they didn’t worship Nebuchadnezzar’s gods or worship the golden image that he had set up? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego simply chose to behold God.
Please? Don’t bow to the things of this world. Please, don’t bow to the barrenness of your situation.
“‘Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”’ Daniel 3:15-18
Beholding God in every circumstance makes us conquerors.
“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.” II Corinthians 2:14-17
God never promised us to shelter us from the fires of life, but He does promise to be with us. (Isaiah 43:2). I think sometimes we get so overwhelmed and disappointed at God because we are expecting Him to do what He never promised. God never promised that we will not walk through the fires of life or the flames of the lives around us; We need to realize that just because we are walking through the ruins of this life doesn’t mean that God is not faithfully and fiercely holding us.
There will be plenty of fires in your life, there will be plenty of moments that you feel you are not enough, there will be many moments that you feel so inadequate for this Christian walk, and all of these is okay. Hard moments lead us into His embrace. The early Christian understood early on that following Christ will be anything but easy. Many of them had to literally leave their families, their communities, and all they have ever known that was familiar to follow a God who promised a death that leads into an eternal resurrection!
‘“You are My witnesses,” says the Lord,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and believe Me,
And understand that I am He.
Before Me, there was no God formed,
Nor shall there be after Me.
I, even I, am the Lord,
And besides Me, there is no savior.
I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed,
And there was no foreign god among you;
“Therefore you are My witnesses,”
Says the Lord, “that I am God.
Indeed before the day was, I am He;
And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand;
I work, and who will reverse it?”’ Isaiah 43:10-13
Whatever situation you find yourself in, what waves threatened to kill you, if you could just remember this one thing: Behold your creator. Through tears, behold him. Through sickness, behold Him. Through heartache, behold Him. Through it all, would just simply behold Him? He promises to be your river in your dry places. And watch your not enough moments turn into glorious, joy-abundant moments.
“And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” Then the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed…” Acts 16:20-27
Your Creator is not only holding you but He is raising you to where He is seated.
Behold, your God!