breathe

But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
    he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
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.
— Isaiah 43:1-3, ESV

It’s Monday. A new week awaits with its tasks and to-do lists and busyness and expectations. We’ve just wrapped up a beautiful and intense discussion of Justice together, and in a couple days — this Wednesday, August 6th— we’ll start a brand new study on the book of Hebrews.

But today, can we take a moment and just sit together?

I struggle with Mondays. I struggle with balancing the excitement and motivation of seeing the week stretched out before me — fresh and new and waiting for me to Get It Together — with the fear that I’ll just plain get it all wrong. Or, worse still, that I won’t muster up the courage to try. Sometimes I worry that everything will change, and sometimes I worry it will stay the same. I admit, it all sounds pretty irrational when I put it down on paper.

Do you see hopes and fears and unknowns when you look at the week ahead? Rather than charge into a new reading plan today, let’s take some time to sit at the feet of Jesus. Let’s breathe deep and remember how He’s called us by name. We are His. Let’s give Him all the scary and the beautiful looming around the corner, and let’s remind one another that our God is trustworthy and faithful and good.

He is with us—each of us—right now, right where we are. Let’s rest in Him.

“Had the Lord Jesus been far away from us, with many a stormy sea between, we should have longed to send a messenger to Him to carry Him our loves, and bring us tidings from his Father’s house; but see His kindness, He has built His house next door to ours, nay, more He takes lodging with us, and tabernacles in poor humble hearts, that so He may have perpetual communion with us.”
— CH Spurgeon, Morning and Evening