Unfolding Enough
All of you is more than enough for all of me.
He made a way…
The preacher asked the question Sunday.
Are you closer to God today than you were on the first Sunday of January last year?
I wanted to shout yes, nod my head or something…but am I? Am I closer to God? Do I pray more today than last year? Have I studied more? Am I sinning less? How exactly do you answer this question and why do I NOT have an answer?
We are four days into the new year and the question keeps haunting me or maybe it’s my lack of answer to the question. I can’t seem to put my finger on an event or time in 2016 where I had some experience that changed me. Because let me tell you…2016 was an entire year of change.
Every corner I turned brought something new…changed the way I lived…moved me to a new place. Some say a year goes by fast but not really. The happenings in the span of 365 days can leave a person feeling dizzy and disoriented…like a child spinning blindfolded and released to pin the tail on a donkey. And there are parts I’m still not laughing about because the hurt involved has not completely gone away.
Change is a funny thing. Even when the change is good there’s a bit of grief. A time of sorrow over life not being the same. The question still haunts as I read the words of Isaiah.
But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-18507A" data-link="(A)” style=”box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;”> you, Jacob,
he who formed<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-18507B" data-link="(B)” style=”box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;”> you, Israel:<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-18507C" data-link="(C)” style=”box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;”>
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-18507D" data-link="(D)” style=”box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;”> you;
I have summoned you by name;<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-18507E" data-link="(E)” style=”box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;”> you are mine.<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-18507F" data-link="(F)” style=”box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;”>
When you pass through the waters,<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-18508G" data-link="(G)” style=”box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;”>
I will be with you;<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-18508H" data-link="(H)” style=”box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;”>
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-18508I" data-link="(I)” style=”box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;”>
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-18508J" data-link="(J)” style=”box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;”>
For I am the Lord your God,<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-18509K" data-link="(K)” style=”box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;”>
the Holy One<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-18509L" data-link="(L)” style=”box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;”> of Israel, your Savior;
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The answer to the preacher’s question begins to clear like the lifting of fog. The Year of Change pushed me closer to God than ever before not because I sinned less or prayed more. But because on this day in 2017 I can see.
I can see because of Him I never quit. Never quit standing…believing…loving…
Sometimes holding on…refusing to quit…is enough. Enough to say yes to the preacher’s question haunting your thoughts. Yes! I’m closer to God. Yes! I still have issues and trials and dry spells. Yes! He made a way through it all.
He. Made. A. Way.
