“I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.“—Psalm 9:1
God never ceases to amaze me —I cherish the times when He leads me back through an old journal…
Oh the things He shows me and reveals to me in the deepest places of my heart…within the secret place…
In times that He leads me back to an old journal, perhaps from “a year ago today”….He’ll show me a pattern, or the start of something, the ending of something, a key word, a theme, something that I see now that I never was able to see before—a thing that was on my heart that I shared with Him to help me through on a specific day… a situation I faced at the time, and He shows me now—somehow— that He was aware, that He heard my prayer, that He knew what He was doing when He allowed me to face that “thing.”
And in the moment He shows this to me—in the now— I know that it’s something from His heart that He’s sharing with me to realize, to see, to grasp, to understand—a beautiful message, straight from His loving heart.
And it’s like a tender warmth, and a deep sense of awe and wonder washes over me along with the most wonderful, refreshing tears… ? ?
“This thing you were going through?… Look at what I did, look at how I resolved it, look at how I orchestrated it for good! And I’m still working in this situation, even now…”
“That struggle you were facing, that thing you came running to Me about? Remember the time we sat together and talked about this very thing? Just look at how it dissolved and washed away—you even forgot about it until I reminded you through the pages of your journal, but look at how things have transformed!”
“This time of “unknown” you were facing in your life…. look at what I’ve done with it, look at how I brought you through it! Do you see how I’ve gone before you, and how I’ve been behind you, all along and all the way forward, My Daughter?”
…His beautiful way of faithfulness. ?
He doesn’t have to, but He wants to. He chooses to.
It’s who He is.
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.“—Psalm 100:4-5
I could attempt to chronicle everything out for you from what I’ve read in my journal this morning. I could attempt to show you this connection and that connection…all the specific things He’s shown me this morning.
But I just want to encourage you to document your life, write down what He shows you, write down what He speaks to your heart, write down your prayers, write down the scriptures He leads you to, write down your heartaches, write down your struggles, your challenges….
Document it. Record it. Chronicle it.
Because one day, He’ll take you back to that specific day, that specific page, even that specific time…He’ll lead you back through the pages and pages of notes from the times of “you and Him”…
And He’ll amaze you.
And He’ll encourage you.
And He’ll show you things that you could not, and probably would not have ever connected…had you not recorded it while being right in the middle of it with Him.
There is something about the way God uses time markers, dates, times…
And then you look at that thing “a year from that day” and then He’ll show you something you may have never seen or realized before….
And you’ll know, and you’ll see…. that He heard you, and that He was with you, and that He was faithful.
And there will be layer upon layer upon layer of things revealed to your heart in this way.
The most beautiful things. ??
He longs to show it to you, He longs to share it with you.
Dare to let Him.
Dare to take the adventure with Him.
If 2020 has been hard for you, go ahead and thank Him in advance for what He’s doing behind the scenes, for what He’s established and orchestrated in this year, even if you can’t see anything yet.
Know that He’s preparing the way for you!
And He’s preparing you for His way...
Thank You, Father. ?
I thank You for it all.
Every moment.
Thank You for the gift of this “now moment”—a gift—to me… from the goodness of Your heart. Thank You for allowing me to see the beauty and be in awe and wonder of Your faithfulness.
Thank You for another glimpse into Your heart. ?
I’ll share one thing that He shared with me on 12/31/2019— on this day, I had chronicled and highlighted the year of 2019 in my journal, I did the very thing I’m doing this morning. Just reflecting back on His faithfulness…
And as I sat with the Lord about the year of 2020 that was to come, I heard this:
“You are strengthened and ready for battle.”
And I wrote, “Oh Lord, that sounds scary!” (You see, we can be honest with Him ❤️)
And I heard Him say to my heart,
“…For I Am your covering. I can take you through everything!
You have been ‘solidified‘…”
He was preparing me for this year, all through the most challenging year of 2019. He was preparing me, He was “solidifying” me so that I would be able to stand in the year of 2020 and beyond.
And this morning, He’s reminding me to celebrate, to take great JOY… to remember that He is FAITHFUL!
May we look forward to the things we’re going to see, that He’s doing now, behind the scenes!
As His people, we get to rejoice here and now! ?
May we hang on tightly to Him, may we dwell in the secret place, that, as His children, we have been invited into.
And as we step into 2021, let’s remember, that we will be able to look back and see His faithfulness that came forth out of the hardship many of us have faced in this year of 2020.
We’ll be able to look back upon this year, and then we’ll look at where we’ll be standing in the times to come, and we’ll know, we’ll see…. “Hindsight 2020” ?
That He was with us, He was listening to our prayers, He saw every single tear, and He was seeing us through! Even though we couldn’t see it at the time…
How He is faithful!
Thank You, Father. ? Thank You for guiding us, we trust You to lead us through the times that are to come in 2021.
-Heather ?