Even though 

I walk through 

the valley of deep darkness,

I fear no evil,

     for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff,

     they comfort me.

                   Psalm 23. 4

(Not just "another world view,"

but a personal God

who loves me

and is with me,

        even though,

        no matter what.

God is with you,

   even through this,

and that changes 

             everything.)

And he built towers

      in the wilderness...

           2 Chronicles 26. 10

(Wherever you are,

"that His name

        may dwell there,"

and grace be rooted,

for His glory.)

...to restore the house of the LORD...

                 2 Chronicles 24. 12

(To His rightful place

           in our world,

           by our lives,

to Whom we worship

    on a daily basis.

You are what you love.)

For from Him

  and through Him

      and to Him

are all things.

             Romans 11. 36

(Nothing random in this,

only what is seamlessly woven

for His purposes,

        for His glory,

even the hard stuff,

even that which

           we don't understand.

"Trust Me in this.")

For we are powerless

   against this great multitude

the is coming against us.

We do not know what to do,

but our eyes are upon You.

             2 Chronicles 20. 12

(First step is realizing

      I am not in control of this situation.

Second step,

     realizing that God is.

God is navigating me

             through.the impossible,

even when I cannot yet

  see His victory in it.)

Jehoshaphat cried out

and the LORD helped him.

God drew them away

                  from him.

       2 Chronicles 18. 31

(God's victory may come

    in a way totally unexpected,

             or from an unusual source,

         or in what I would not choose,

                 even in mystery,

but His victory always comes

              when we seek Him.

"LORD, how do I navigate this situation?"

Am I seeking His way through?

Am I open to His design?)

But you,

         take courage!

Do not let

        your hands be weak,

for your work shall be rewarded.

               2 Chronicles 15. 7

(Follow the LORD into this.

Be faithful to Him above all,

                even in this.

God is at work through you.

He always works

           in multiple outcomes,

that which we cannot yet see.)

...for this thing is from Me.

              2 Chronicles 11. 4

(When I set my heart

to seek the LORD,

I see what is before me

               differently.

In everything, I am called

to be conformed

     to the image of His Son.

Even in this

           impossible situation,

   God Almighty is at work.

"Trust Me in this.")

But you are not in the flesh,

   you are in the Spirit,

if in fact,

the Spirit of God dwells in you.

              Romans 8. 9

(And that should look

           radically different,

in what you do,

how you do it,

what you choose,

how you view God,

how you treat others,

    and how you live.)

The priests stood at their posts...

                   2 Chronicles 7. 6

(Faithful wherever

   God leads me today.

Even in this mess.

Even in

  "what in the world

    am I doing here?"

Profound significance

  is always deeply embedded,

especially in what

   I cannot yet see.

God is 

   working mightily through you.)

...in order that we may

        bear fruit for God.

              Romans 7. 4

(Even in this hard place,

in this impossible relationship,

through what only appears

     insignificant to the world.

God is at work.

His glory is not limited

    by what is visible.)

He set up the pillars

in front of the temple,

one on the south,

the other on the north;

that on the south he called Jachin,

  and that on the north Boaz.

               2 Chronicles 3. 17

(Jachin means

   "Yahweh will establish."

Boaz means

   "In Yahweh is your strength."

Even here,

even in this,

these pillars

  change the trajectory of your day.

Set this reality before you

   on your right hand and your left.)

Then David said

to Solomon his son,

"Be strong and of good courage

            and do it.

Fear not,

         be not dismayed;

for the LORD God,

             even my God,

     is with you.

He will not fail you

              or forsake you,

until all the work

for the service of the house

of the LORD is done.

                        1 Chronicles 28. 20

(God has brought you to this point

         and to this place

for His deepest purposes,

not in the building of the temple,

      but the building up His Kingdom.

He is not about to abandon you now.

Fear is too heavy to carry,

         despair just distracts you

from being faithful to Him.

Even in this,

                His glory.

Just do it.

God is using you mightily).

More than that,

we rejoice in our sufferings,

knowing that

  suffering produces endurance,

and endurance produces character,

and character produces hope,

and hope does not disappoint us,

because God's love

  has been poured into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit

which has been given us.

                     Romans 5. 3-5

(God's profound purposes,

              even in this.

Nothing is random,

nothing unused,

nothing left over,

all used for His glory,

His kingdom,

His grace in this world).

...appointed duties in their service.

                1 Chronicles 24. 3

(All work is worship,

nothing insignificant in His name,

for His kingdom,

for His glory.

Am I doing what

      God has appointed me today?

Even in what appears irrelevant,

ridiculous,

           a waste of time and energy.

Even in this,

He beckons me,

              "Follow Me deeper."

One act of responding to God

   leads me to another step

                     in following Him,

that which is unexpected,

profoundly eternal,

and I can't yet see from here).

Arise and be doing!

   The LORD be with you!

         1 Chronicles 22. 16

(What has the LORD

   placed before me today

on my path,

on my radar,

on my heart?

"I don't know what to do,

I don't know how to do this."

"Follow Me into this."

As Kevin DeYoung says,

       "Just do something."

Be strong and of good courage.

Fear not;

        be not dismayed).

His praise is not from men

            but of God.

                   Romans 2. 29

(Am I seeking praise?

    That is called arrogance.

Am I seeking His glory,

                     even in this?

That is recognized

                    as faithfulness.

In the hard stuff

   and even in the applause.

For His kingdom,

for His glory,

in His name).

And the LORD gave victory to David

      wherever he went.

                    1 Chronicles 18. 6, 13

(Because he sought God first.

God's victory does not mean

               the easy path,

but faithful to Him,

no matter the circumstances,

no matter what appears

                         the outcome,

no matter what.

God is sovereign,

                  even in this).

Seek the LORD

            and His strength,

seek His Presence

                   continually.

             1 Chronicles 16. 11

(Even in this.

God transforms chaos

                     into awe.

Don't miss the Almighty.

There is not just

       "a reason for this,"

but His deeper

   divinely appointed purposes.

God redeems the impossible

                  into the incredible).

...and David said,

"God has broken through

my enemies by my hand

    like a bursting flood."

Therefore the name of that place

is called Baal-perazim.

              1 Chronicles 14. 11

(Which literally means

     "the LORD of breaking through."

And He still is,

   whatever the impossible situation.

God does not just show you a way through,

              He breaks into it.

My enemies

are whatever I fear,

             both real and imagined).

  

But the LORD

  sits enthroned for ever...

            Psalm 9. 7

(No matter how things appear,

no matter the circumstances,

the adversity,

the mystery,

God is still sovereign.

His purposes deep within.

                Even in this.

"Trust Me in this.")

...the LORD was with him.

              1 Chronicles 9. 20

(May that be what

          distinguishes us,

not that we are successful

                      in all things,

or life is easy and goes

   according to what we like,

but we are faithful to God.

The reality of His Presence

impacts everything in my life.

I belong to Him.

Even in this).

     

...mighty warriors of their generations...

                     1 Chronicles 7. 2

(Of grace and love and kindness,

bringing the name of Jesus

   wherever God has

   strategically appointed you,

in whatever

  He has placed before you today.

He is using you

          even now,

          even in this,

His Presence all over it).

...for they cried to God

                   in the battle,

and He granted their entreaty

  because they trusted in Him.

                     1 Chronicles 5. 20

(Because they trusted in Him

is that which radically changes

the journey and the outcome

         in whatever we are facing.

God is at work in mighty ways

     and for His incredible purposes,

even now,

even in this.

O LORD,

    show me Your way in this

    and through this).

Jabez called on

the God of Israel, saying,

"O that You would bless me

and enlarge my border,

and that Your hand

       might be with me,

and that You would

   keep me from harm

so that it might not hurt me!"

And God

       granted what he asked.

                 1 Chronicles 4. 10

(Do I even bother

              to ask God?

Did it even occur to me

  to ask God about that?

It is not that He would

             work it out,

but He is already working,

bringing about greater good

   that I will ever realize,

most often in unexpected ways.

But I can trust Him in it,

   I can trust Him through it.

Even in this.

"In the center of the circle

   of the will of God I stand."

      --Streams in the Desert)

  

You have put more joy in my heart

than they have when

their grain and wine abound.

In peace

   I will both lie down and sleep,

for You alone, O LORD,

  make me dwell in safety.

                    Psalm 4. 7-8

(If I am always looking for

when life is good and easy,

    happy faces are all around me,

    the skies are blue,

    the prevailing breeze pleasant,

it is never enough,

there is always the deep desire

                for a little bit more.

But peace and joy

  are never dependent

            on outward circumstances,

    but on His Presence.

God makes what I have,

                    what I face,

         even what I lack,

               more than enough,

not just to fill my needs

          but to serve God and others.

Peace and joy

  are rare commodities in this world.

Live that way).

Deliverance belongs to the LORD.

                   Psalm 3. 8

(My responsibility is

 to follow Him,

           not to be in control.

God may not deliver me

         from this adversity,

         from this difficulty,

         from this hard place

                     or feeling,

in ways that I expect,

but always

provides me His strength

                       through it,

that I may know Him

  in ways I never knew before.

His awesome ways

               His perfect timing,

               His profound purposes).

Blessed are all

   who take refuge in Him.

                    Psalm 2. 12

(Not running away from difficulty,

   nor hiding from circumstances,

not a place of fear and trembling,

but a residence of strengthening

    from which to go forth.

.Abide in Me.

Even in this).

And I said,

    "What shall I do, Lord?"

And the Lord said to me,

    "Rise, and go into Damascus,

and there you will be told

all that is appointed for you to do."

                          Acts 22. 10

(When I take one step of obedience,

       the next step rises up.

Even into that which

   I cannot yet see from here.

Follow Me into this).

...let the shadow

      go back ten steps.

                 2 Kings 20. 10

(God's power,

   and His almighty hand is revealed

             by the impossible,

in extraordinary ways

    on the most ordinary days.

The most spectacular

            is often overlooked.

His unexpected grace

              is profoundly real

     where we don't even see it.

Even in adversity and mystery

               He is glorified,

    sometimes especially then.

Even in this).

...that all the kingdoms of the earth

may know that You, O LORD,

                         are God alone.

                      2 Kings 19. 19

(Above all,

  the ultimate answer to prayer:

that we would know Him more

         and He is known.

Practicing in our every days

    and in the face of the impossible.

Even in this.

Even here.

Even now).