LOOKING AHEAD: THE LORD HAS DONE THIS

“I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus.
I will give them fountains of water in the valleys.
I will fill the desert with pools of water.
Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground.
I will plant trees in the barren desert- cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine.
I am doing this so all who see this miracle will understand what it means-
That it is the LORD who has done this,
the Holy One of Israel who created it.”
Isaiah 41:18-20

I don’t know what 2024 brought for you. I don’t know if it was one of the best years of your lives or one of the worst. Whatever last year looked like for you, I hope that you can look ahead with hope for what’s to come. This post is for the one who finds themselves in a hard season, but is still holding onto all that is good. It is also for the one who finds themselves in a plentiful season. And, it’s for the ones who are learning that both joy and grief can co-exist together. This one’s for all of us.

Starting with a bit of a personal story. But I promise, we won’t get too personal here.

After losing my job and facing unemployment for the second time in 18 months, I have found myself facing emotions that I didn’t even know were possible. For months, I’ve been applying to jobs left and right, networking, sending my resume and portfolio to anyone and everyone, but still nothing. It’s unreal, almost comical at how many doors have slammed in my face. A little over a year ago, I was speaking at a conference and I felt the LORD lead me to tell the audience that day, “Do not despise closed doors.” I didn’t realize how real those words were about to become in my own life. Closed doors. One after another. And, yet. What did the LORD say? Do not despise them.

Something better is coming. I just know it. But that something has not arrived. And so, in the middle of the pain, in the middle of the unknown and uncertainty, in the middle of the doubts and fears, in the middle of the financial difficulty, in the middle of the stress and anxious nights, I am sitting down to write. 

Because I know, God is still at work here.

I am sitting down to write to let the person who is struggling right now know that it’s okay if you don’t have all the answers right now. It’s okay if you need to just have a good cry. It’s okay if you’re feeling weak. Just know that this isn’t the end of your story. 

I know it’s not the end of mine. And, so that’s why I’ve chosen to write these words down while I still don’t have all the answers. Because that’s a big part of faith. It’s choosing to hold onto something bigger than yourself when you can’t see your way through.

Years ago, I had written in the opening pages of my devotional Through the Morning Fog words that my friend Lauren had once shared with me. She had said, “If we didn’t go through trials or pain, then our faith would be solely theoretical.”

In the middle of the trial and the pain, your faith is being deepened. As uncomfortable as it all is, the LORD will get you to the other side. I know, because I’ve seen it over and over again in my life. So I’m holding onto this hope that is an anchor for our soul and choosing to write it all down.

Typically, it’s easier to write the story and have faith when you know the ending from the beginning. After all, isn’t that how so many of us read the Bible stories today? We read it through the lens of someone who knows the end of the story. But what about our own stories? We have no idea where this is leading. And, yet. What has the LORD said?

He will never abandon us. 

So, no, I have no idea what the next few months will bring, let alone tomorrow. But this I do know. The LORD will never leave me nor forsake me. For every closed door, there is another door that will be opened. And guess what? It won’t be opened by my own hands or my own resources, but it will be opened by the LORD.

Isaiah 41:20 states, “I am doing this so all who see this miracle will understand what it means-that it is the LORD who has done this.”

Tonight, as I cozied up on my couch, I was struck by the truth of these words in Isaiah 41. I had just finished reading Isaiah 40 and had set down my Bible, ready to give it a close, when those words jumped out at me. I didn’t have plans to read them tonight, but the LORD did. Because He is sovereign. And, He knows just what we need for this very day.

When you’re anxious and stressed over the future, the LORD beckons us back to His provision for this very day. All that He has to give us He can only give to us today. It’s His daily manna for us. Matthew 6:26 states, “Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns for your heavenly Father feeds them.” The birds aren’t spending their time storing up food for the next few months, for the LORD gives them exactly what they need for this day. So, how about us? The LORD tells us in this same passage in Matthew 6:34, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.”

Don’t worry.

Easier said than done, I know. But these are Jesus’ words, not mine.

For every worry, there is a Savior who is standing right in front of us beckoning us to cast every single worry upon Him. There is a Savior who provides Himself, His shalom. This perfect peace and spiritual wholeness is unlike anything the world could have ever hoped for and yet here it is. It’s yours and mine if we so choose. 

Last night, I was looking up at the breathtaking Texas skies (side note. I’m a California girl living in a Texas world and let me tell you it’s true. Everything really is bigger in Texas.) Anyways, back to those glorious Texas skies. As I was looking up in complete awe and wonder, it hit me. For a moment, my eyes were taken off my impossible situation and turned back towards the God who makes possibilities out of the impossible. The same God who paints the skies, who “feeds the birds”, who “cares so wonderfully for wildflowers…will certainly care for you.” Meditating on Matthew 6 these last few weeks has been reminding me of how deeply He cares for you and I. He is so much bigger than whatever we’re facing today.

And, with whatever it is that we are facing, the LORD is saying this: I AM DOING THIS SO THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW.

Who? Those who do not yet know the LORD, those who are struggling in their faith, those who are also waiting on a miracle, those who are tired and weary, those who you call neighbor, co-worker, family, or friend. Whatever He is taking you through, He will make a way through, so that we might know, this was not our doing, but this was the LORD’s.

With the impossibilities that we face throughout our lifetime, we will look back and say, yeah, this was not done by my own hands and feet. No, this was done by the hands of the miraculous, by the hands of my LORD.

So whatever you are facing today, whatever worries you, let me be the first to say: It’s going to be okay. The LORD is faithful. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will see you and I through. And in the middle of the waiting and the mess, He will provide Himself, His perfect peace. But it only happens when we take our eyes off what we can’t control and turn them back to the One who is in Control of all things. Surrendering what we can’t make sense of, we see to it that the LORD will have His way so that others might come to know His name.

After all that is what our stories are all about. It’s not about you and I. It’s all about Him. And if in some small way, this chapter of my life can let someone come to know Christ as I am coming to know Him so deeply in this season, then let it be.

Let this be the year where each of us is able to live out different parts of our stories, whether big or small, and take a step back and say, “Oh, yes. This was the LORD’s doing.” 

Looking ahead, what beautiful possibilities await. A year from now, I can’t wait to tell you about what the LORD has done.