This morning, this song was on my heart - "Great is Thy faithfulness, Oh God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not; Thy compassions they fail not. As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be. Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!" In looking to see what verses in the Bible this hymn might be based on, I found myself in one of the books I haven't read as often - Lamentations. In the International Standard Version, it reads like this:
"Because of the Lord’s gracious love we are not consumed, since his compassions never end. They are new every morning—great is your faithfulness!" Lamentations 3:22-23 ISV
It is so true! God is so faithful, and indeed every day I can see new blessings if I look for them. This past weekend I once again experienced this in a very clear way. We were scheduled to perform in a state-wide venue and I was really nervous about it. All sorts of little details threatened my serenity - from what we would wear to concerns about making glaring mistakes. I sought guidance that morning, and once again asked that God's will be done - knowing that while I WANTED our performance to be free of at least GLARING errors, I had to be willing for His will to be done - even if that meant some rather public mistakes. I then tried my best to set aside my concerns and just trust that God had everything in hand.
I had been reading a Christian novel and returned to that to give myself something else to think about. I was near the end of the book and soon came to the "credits/acknowledgements" page. I don't always read these, but these particular ones really caught my eye as they were quite different than many I've read with a VERY clear gratitude to God. As I read the acknowledgments, I came across a reference to Ephesians 3:20 and it just really jumped out at me. There was no mention of what the verse said, just a reference to the verse. I just HAD to look it up. At the time, I had the Amplified Bile with me. This is what I read:
"Now to Him Who, by the action of His power that is at work within us is able to carry out His purpose and do superabundantly, far over and above all that we dare ask or think - infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams . . . " (brackets removed for easier reading)
As I read this verse, I felt God saying to me "Cheryl, this is my promise to you. Don't be afraid. I am with you." The words of that verse just jumped out at me. He was promising to give me far over and above all that I dare ask or think - infinitely beyond my highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams! What an amazing promise! What an amazing God!
And He's done that not just with the performance Saturday night, but with the class(es) we're teaching too. He told me He had placed before me an open door that no one could shut - and it is SO clear that has happened! He is an amazing God, and I continue to praise Him.
Father, thank you for being such a kind, gentle, and GENEROUS Father! You are amazing and I am so grateful for all you are doing in my life! Thank you for your guidance, your support, your resources. Thank you for the open doors - no matter how scary walking through them feels sometimes! Thank you for granting love and peace that overcomes my human fears! I love you, Father!
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This blog is simply a sharing of my "daily bread" - my daily walk with God. If something I've said has touched your heart, or sparked a new thought, I'd love to hear from you.