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Grace for the Journey: How Will We Leave?

January 6, 2021 Leave a Comment

How will we leave you 2020?
You, the year that we will always remember as ‘the year’.
The year that in many ways broke us…down…apart…open.
Like the cracking of an egg 2020, you broke us,
and we are still living with the sharp jagged edges of that breaking.

You are the year that revealed so many things we didn’t want to know.
Like, as much as we want to be in control, we aren’t.
And, as evolved and healed as we think we are, we’re not.
 You held up the mirror to so much of our sin sickness
that needs God’s touch – God’s healing.

How will we leave you 2020?
Many would like to follow the way of the disciples leaving an
unwelcoming town by shaking your unruly, challenging, and yes,
unprecedented dust off our feet.

But, to do that would deny the most important truth of our 365 day journey through you.
Certainly there were struggles and many painful losses, yet there were joys and blessings too.
Much new was born.  Needed lessons were learned. 
We realized all that we take for granted. 
The unimportant we have for so long complacently and comfortably counted as important,
was finally exposed as the dross it is, revealing the value of what really matters.

The most important truth about you 2020, is that our journey through you
was never about you, because…we never journeyed alone.
In your 365 days, there was never a place,  
never a moment,
never a breath breathed or a step taken,
never a prayer prayed or a tear shed,
never a thanks offered or a laugh shared,
never a heart broken or a weak place made strong,
never a life’s end or its new beginning
…where God wasn’t.

Emmanuel.  God is with us.
Then, now, and forevermore.

Psalm 139:8-9 reminds us 2020, that whether we ascend to the highest height
or find ourselves in the darkest depth, God is with us.

The prophet Isaiah proclaims this same promise of God in chapter 43:2-4:
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you. 

For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…I love you…

And that Savior Who loves us…He says these words in Matthew 28:20:
I will be with you always…

So you see 2020, there is never a time when God isn’t with us,
and in the presence of our Almighty, loving and gracious God, nothing is ever wasted.
Which means…
there was never a place  
never a moment,
never a breath breathed or a step taken,
never a prayer prayed or a tear shed,
never a thanks offered or a laugh shared,
never a heart broken or a weak place made strong,
never a life’s end or new beginning
that wasn’t held in the redeeming grace of Emmanuel, God with us,
the Savior God Who loves us.

Yes, 2020, you are a year we will never forget.
You are also the year that we will leave knowing,
 that nothing we faced with you was greater than the One Who was with us.

That’s how we will leave you 2020.
Proclaiming that truth and offering this praise:
Emmanuel, God is with us.
Then, now, forevermore.
Thanks be to God!

Journeying into 2021 with God, with you, and with great thanksgiving,
Dena


If you would like to view past editions of Grace for the Journey, follow this link: https://fairwaydistrictnc.org/category/from-the-ds/

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Filed Under: from the DS Tagged With: Emmanuel, God is with us, God's healing, God's touch

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