With Open Arms

It never goes the way you would expect. Honestly, I’m thankful. Imagine how boring life would be if you planned it out in your cute little planner and everything happened exactly the way you wanted it to. No curveballs, no u-turns, it was set in stone. That would be too comfortable.

            I was not created to be comfortable. That is why I get restless when I stay in the same position for long periods of time, even if it is on the most comfortable piece of furniture imaginable. I was made to seek comfort in my Lord and Savior, not in my circumstances. Because even when it feels like no one else is, MY God is fighting for me. MY God whispers sweet promises to me that sound substantially louder than the enemy’s shouts. Why is that? Because God is close, and his close whispers sound like a sonic boom in comparison to the enemy’s far off scream. God has his hold on me, and he assures me that nothing will touch me. There will be no battle, because He has already won. That doesn’t mean life won’t throw me curveballs. It doesn’t mean I will be initially happy with the changes, but He promises to bring something beautiful out of that place. If He didn’t promise me something so worth fighting for, He wouldn’t have put me there to begin with.

            Sometimes I begin to believe the lie that God likes me to be comfortable. Whenever I do, there’s a shift. There’s so much more to this life than living alongside people you always feel safe around. Without challenges, there is no growth. Without growth, what is ministry? There is so much out there to see, to learn, to experience. I am not made for complacency. I am not made to just get by in this season in order to get to the next. I am made to thrive in relationship with the one who calls me His. Who promises peace and provision. Because he chose ME, a completely imperfect person, to bring his perfect message of grace to hardened hearts. He never stops working, he never stops pursuing. Every time he opens up a door in an unexpected place, even if I shut it in his face, he still comes back. He doesn’t get angry with me. He’s never disappointed. When I take the enemy’s words and hold them as truth, He begs me to turn around and see him, with open arms, waiting and ready for me to come back to him, to seek his comfort, to know his truth as THE truth.

            So today I will choose to be one who is okay with uncertainty. I will run from the one who tries to pull me from redemption, who tries to morph my changes in circumstances into something that I should be fearful of. And I will seek truth from the author and perfecter of my faith. Because His word really truly is gold, and He accepts me with open arms every single time.

Because even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for HE is with me. His rod and staff comfort me. He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies; he anoints my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
 –Psalm 23:4-6