But You are near, O LORD...

                  Psalm 119. 151

(I need that truth repeating

in a continual loop

in my thoughts.

His Presence

     changes everything.

When circumstances 

              are not looking good,

when my heart says

         time to panic

              or despair,

the LORD says,

"I'm already here.

You are not alone.

     Follow Me into it.

Do not be afraid."

The peace Jesus promises

is not the absence of conflict,

     but His shalom

     in impossible places.)

And David said,

"O LORD,

I pray to You,

turn the counsel

of Ahithophel

  into foolishness."

         2 Samuel 15. 31

(Turn the tide,

       O LORD.

There may be 

nothing I can do

to change things,

but I can pray.

Praying is always

against the odds.

Praying opens up

every door, window

and crevice 

to the power of God

          in this,

beyond what 

I can comprehend,

or even know how

      to pray for.

Seek God in this,

not just the answer.)

A man's mind

  plans his way,

but the LORD 

  directs his steps.

       Proverbs 16. 9

(God always has

so much more in mind

than we can imagine.

Set my heart, O LORD,

to follow You,

even into what appears

unexpected to me.

God's vision 

is so much bigger,

His purposes deeper 

than I can ever know.

Even in this.

Every road block,

every detour,

every pothole

          along the way

  has profound meaning.)

    

I hope in Your Word.

          Psalm 119. 81

(Saturate your heart 

       in God's Word.

Stake your life on it.

His Word 

will not just throw you

     a life preserver

   to keep your head

   above the rising flood,

but provide

  a life raft for others.

Every day in His Word

prepares me

for the storms of life,

   not if they come,

           but when.

God's Word is

not just a point of rescue,

but a place of flourishing.)

Peace

    I leave with you,

My peace 

    I give to you;

not as the world gives

   do I give to you.

Let not your hearts

      be troubled,

neither let them

      be afraid.

        John 14. 27

(Jesus gives shalom,

   a wholeness 

that saturates 

despite circumstances.

He's got this situation.

He's got you.

He is doing something

far more profound 

  than you can know.)

Commit your work 

      to the LORD,

and your plans

 will be established. 

           Proverbs 16. 3

(Commit means

  "to give in charge."

It is not that we lay

our plans 

      before the LORD,

but He lays His plans

      before us.

It is not that

we fit God 

   into what we do,

but God

seamlessly weaves us

into what He is doing.

Most often,

beyond what

   we can ever know.)

I will not leave you desolate;

I will come to you.

                  John 14. 18

(No matter how hard it is,

God will reveal Himself

     to you in this.

You are not alone.

This difficult situation,

     your very life,

is profoundly different 

    because of Jesus.)

...and he said,

"The LORD has broken through 

       my enemies before me,

like a bursting flood."

Therefore the name of the place

is called Baal-perazim.

              2 Samuel 5. 20

(Which quite literally means

"the Lord of breaking through."

God breaks through my fears,

my worries,

through the most impossible

     situations.

The LORD provides a way

where there seems 

             to be no way.

Follow Him into it.)

Jeaus answered him,

"What I am doing

you do not know now,

but afterward

      you will understand."

                 John 13. 7

(Even though 

I do not comprehend

what God is up to

--this impossible situation,

      this long waiting,

      this awkward timing--

does not mean

that it does not bear

God's profound 

     and divine purposes.

I just cannot see it yet.)

Truly, truly, I say to you,

unless a grain of wheat

falls into the earth and dies,

it remains alone;

but if it dies,

    it bears much fruit.

                 John 12. 24

(When we are self-less

   --however that may look

         in this situation--

God alters 

    the entire landscape.)

But David strengthened himself

     in the LORD his God.

  

                 1 Samuel 30. 6

(May what the adversary meant 

to bring me down,

draw me even deeper to God,

to trigger faithfulness,

                  not despair.

Not dwelling 

       on the circumstances,

but seeking the LORD,

"What is Your way in this?"

God specializes 

      in impossible situations.)

But when Jesus heard it,

He said,

"This illness is not unto death;

it is for the glory of God,

so that

the Son of God may be glorified

         by means of it."

   

                       John 11. 4

(There is something 

   much deeper going on here

than what is obvious.

This difficulty you have

is a deeper passage

into His goodness 

and that His hand

     may be revealed,

"so that you may believe."

God knew this.

Now watch 

       what God will do with it, 

what only He can do,

how only He can redeem,

beyond what you can know.)

So the Jews gathered round Him

and said to Him,

"How long will you

keep us in suspense?

If your are the Christ,

        tell us plainly."

Jesus answered them,

"... I and the Father are one."

...The Jews answered Him,

"It is not for a good work

that we stone you

       but for blasphemy;

because you,

   being a man,

            make yourself God."

                   John 10. 24, 30, 33

(Jesus is who He said He is.

The Greek word Christ

    means Messiah.

Jesus did not just make a claim,

but revealed who He is,

the anointed One to save the world.

He came to die for you.

He rose again

     to confirm who He is.)

Then David inquired of the LORD

                      again.

                     1 Samuel 23. 4

(Again and again and again,

seeking God

    not just in the crisis.

Don't leave home without it.

Don't go into your day

          without listening first.

Establish that pattern

    on the every days,

because there is 

   no ordinary days 

         on God's calendar.)

But the lad knew nothing...

                  1 Samuel 20. 39

(He never knew 

how God used him powerfully.

Neither do we,

   when we are faithful to Him,

even in our own little corner.

God never works

      in singular outcomes.

There are no small obediences.)

And David had success

       in all his undertakings,

for the LORD was with him.

            1 Samuel 18. 14

(David did not go it alone.

He knew obedience,

faithfulness to God,

and fruitfulness 

are seamlessly woven.

Learning to go with the LORD,

practiced 

     on the most ordinary days,

provides strength in the crisis.

David's obedience

     had a long track record.)

Then David said to the Philistine,

"You come to me

with sword

and with a spear

and with a javelin,

but I come to you

   in the name 

       of the LORD of hosts..."

              1 Samuel 17. 45

(Who or what

      is your "Goliath?"

Go into your day,

   not on your own strength 

but on the track record

      of God's faithfulness 

and in His name.

For Your glory, O LORD,

       even in this

       overwhelming situation 

and among impossible people.

God is faithful

even when we cannot yet

                 see the outcome.

Even when we never see the outcome,

    His purposes prevail,

beyond our wildest imagination.)

And Samuel said,

"Has the LORD as great delight

in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obeying 

    the voice of the LORD?

Behold,

   to obey is better than sacrifice,

and to hearken

         than the fat of rams.

                1 Samuel 15. 22

(Obedience is simply

listening and responding 

                  in love to God,

Am I willing to follow Him

     and His way in this?)

...it may be that the LORD

     will work for us,

for nothing can hinder the LORD

  from saving by many

  or by few.

                    1 Samuel 14. 6

(Remember that God is

         in this equation.

You are not alone.

Follow the LORD through this,

even in what seems impossible.

The LORD is never

          limited by the odds.

Trusting Him in it

    means not yet seeing

what He is bringing about.

Let Him surprise you

    by what He does

                     and how.)

With God 

   we shall do valiantly;

it is He

who will tread down 

                   our foes.

               Psalm 108. 13

(The outcome 

may not be the triumph,

success

may not be the point,

but His victory 

   every step

   of the journey.

Our foes are anything 

        we fear,

both real and imagined.)

...do whatever

     your hand finds to do,

for God is with you.

            1 Samuel 10. 7

(God has placed you

strategically for His purposes.

Even here, 

even in this mess,

even in this impossible situation.

That is what 

     faithfulness looks like,

nothing too mighty,

no task below me,

His purposes

   are deeper 

   than I will ever know.)

...it was kept for you

    until the hour appointed...

             1 Samuel 9. 24

(God's incredible provision,

God's exact timing,

God's divine encounters,

all those intricate designs 

      that don't "just happen."

And oh, what I miss,

          because of my impatience.)

Then Samuel took a stone

and set it up 

between Mizpah and Jeshanah,

and called its name

                  Ebenezer,

for he said,

"Hitherto the LORD 

           has helped us."

              1 Samuel 7. 12

(And God will not stop now.

What are the big rocks

of God's faithfulness 

           in your life,

the stones that remind

    of His long history

    of His goodness to you

                   by His hand?

This impossible situation 

   is just another

   revealing of His Presence.)

For those who honor Me,

        I will honor.

              1 Samuel 2. 30

(However that may

      look like today,

think about honoring God

             in this.

Even in this.)

She was deeply distressed

     and prayed to the LORD...

                 1 Samuel 1. 10

(That is the changing point.

Learn a different response

    when despair invades.

Let your anxiety draw you

     to pray more deeply.

God is at work in you.

Even in this.)

So she set forth and went 

and gleaned in the field

       after the reapers,

and she happened to come 

to the part of the field

belonging to Boaz.

                      Ruth 2. 3

(Nothing "just happens."

But God's sovereign 

   strategic timing and design

transform what we consider

the most ordinary of days

     into what is profound.

Even in what  

    we may never see.

Faithfulness to God

always bears

    fruit in some dimension,

beyond your wildest dreams.)

    

        

He had to pass

      through Samaria.

                John 4. 4

(That route may not have been

the only way,

but Jesus had purpose 

                in going there.

Sometimes God leads us

where we would not choose,

but always there is

          divine purpose in it,

even in what we cannot understand 

or may never see.

Even in this.

Even here.

LORD, help me

to hear Your Voice and no other.)

He must increase,

      but I must decrease.

                     John 3. 30

(How does that look like today

     in what God has put on my path

and among whom

     He has placed on my radar

                      or my heart?

His name, 

His voice 

His glory, 

His way,

               not mine.)

For God so loved the world

that He gave His only Son,

that whoever believes in Him

should not perish

    but have eternal life.

For God sent the Son

into the world,

not to condemn the world,

but that the world

might be saved 

        through Him.

               John 3. 16-17

(The gospel is not just a promise

    for the other side of life,

but the reality of now.

Saved, released, redeemed,

   transformed by His love.

All that you have always been seeking

            is found in Him.

You are loved

      more than you can realize.)

            

...and the Spirit of the LORD

    came mightily upon him...

                  Judges 15. 14

(This is the point of change,

Samson's source of strength 

             and ours.

It is not in me,

        but God.

God is never limited

          by the odds.)

...and offered it

upon the rock to the LORD,

to Him who works wonders.

              Judges 13. 19

(It is not the unknown

       you are facing,

but the unfolding

   of His wonders in your life

and His narrative

      live streamed through you.)