Life can bend and break me, But the Father has a way
of keeping me together through the burdens of the day.
He tells me “Come away, it’s time we had some time alone”
And every time I come away it feels like going home.
– Al Denson, In His Sanctuary, first verse
2019 has been quite a year for me ... a year that was so full of pain and struggle, and at the same time so full of joy until I thought I would burst. A paradox.
If you have a relationship with God where you walk and talk with Him daily, you know what I mean. If you don’t have a relationship with Him, this is the perfect time of year to enter into a relationship with Him. There’s only one Door you can go through for that ... I would invite you to find someone who can guide you through that Door and answer questions you might have. A pastor, someone at a local church, contact me. Read the book of Romans. And the gospel of John. It’s a decision you will never regret. If you seek Him, He will allow Himself to be found.
God chose me when I was a very small child, before I was even truly aware. He chooses us, you know. If we know Him at all, or if we’re feeling that tug, it’s because the Holy Spirit took the initiative and is wooing us to Himself. We simply respond to the invite.
At some point as a child I responded to the tug and formally accepted Christ. But I didn’t really know how to walk with Him daily in my life until I was in my twenties and joined a church where wonderful people finally discipled me and taught me how to walk with Him.
At the same time in my twenties is when the “storms” first began to manifest themselves in my life. These storms were situations and relationships totally beyond my control and problems inside me that needed to be tended to. God-sized problems much too personal to share in detail here. I’ll just refer to them as my storms.
These storms have always had a way of showing up in the seasons of my life when God is moving and good things are happening. I can’t decide if they are tests, or simply the enemy trying to touch and destroy what God is doing in my life. Trying to get my focus off of following God. I don’t know ... it’s probably a bit of both.
All I know is that God is always a step ahead, and before the storm ever hits, He’ll have me in a situation with the right people, support and resources around me. He holds me tight and we ride it out. And He guides me and teaches me throughout and everytime it’s finally over, I’m stronger and better on the other side ... and even closer to Him.
I love Him so.
And I just wanted to say it out loud to the whole world in a public place ... on the website that He gave me.
Because 2019 was another one of those amazing years in my life where God was moving and bringing good things into my life, and the enemy brought the storms round again when I was at my weakest and lowest and he tried to wipe me out.
But when we are weak, God is strong! We belong to Him and the victory is His.