Tag: Never alone

Security

But God’s Spirit never abandons us

For today, a picture and two lovely poems.

Caleb, first grade

When do you feel butterflies? Nervous, scared, anxious, worried, insecure?

I felt that way while my sister recently spent a week in the hospital, most of it in ICU. Her doctor said he hadn’t known a case when someone as sick as she was had not died. We praise God for bringing her through this! For me, though, the days before she stabilized were nerve-racking.

This poem was true for my sister during those fraught days—and equally true for me, despite my feelings. It’s true for Caleb and Talita, now living in another country, with everything new.

And it’s true for you.

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.

You see everything I do.

You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.

You go before me and follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

I can never be lost to your Spirit!

I can never get away from your presence!

If I go up to heaven, you are there.

If I go down to the grave, you are there.

If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

even there your hand will guide me

and your strength will support me.

Psalm 139:1-10

I received poem #2 from my niece, who is going through her own fraught time:

…we live not outside of time,
but inside its melodic chambers,
not escaping the fear and the pain,
but companioning it with so much love,
so much beauty that somehow,
even in the halls of distress,
we nestle deeper in and feel safe.

from The Humming by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

As we’ve been seeing in our survey of the Holy Spirit at work in the Old Testament, he companions us wherever we walk every day. With so much love and so much beauty. We are never alone. Never abandoned. Never lost to God’s eternal, unchanging, faithful Spirit.

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26).

Never Alone, Hillsong

Care

But God carries us

Isaiah 46:2-4, 8-9 [The Lord says] “Both the idols and their owners are bowed down. The gods cannot protect the people, and the people cannot protect the gods. They go off into captivity together. Listen to me. I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you. … Do not forget this! Keep it in mind! Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God and there is none like me.”

Romans 8:38 Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.

“Reader! When you write my story, be sure to tell what God did for me today. Only God could have done this. I want everyone everywhere to know there is nothing and no one else like Him for us to depend on. I want my experience to show others how much He cares for them too. Grief and pain can blind us to God’s presence and love—I know. But He is walking with us, each one of us.”

Comments like this one began showing up in Karis’s journals when she was a teenager, as did her comment, “All I see is grace.” Pain and grief were abundant in her life, but greater and deeper was her confidence in God’s care for her. “We’re all the same,” I heard her say again and again. “None of us can do life by ourselves. Each one of us needs the Lord to carry us through. Maybe it’s just a little more obvious for me.”

Karis “carried” by her brother and friends in high school

Isaiah 46, “I made you and I will care for you,” is at the heart of my novels, too. My deepest desire is that they will give readers hope, hope for God’s presence and care to undergird their own lives and struggles and challenges.

In 2016, Jen Wilkin published a beautiful little book called None Like Him, taking the title from Isaiah 46:9. The subtitle is Ten Ways God Is Different from Us (and Why That’s a Good Thing). I plan to re-read it this fall and encourage you to read it as well, in preparation for your celebration of Christmas. I would love to hear how it expands your understanding of God and his care for you!