One of the things I love about our God, is that He is, and will always continue to be, exactly Who He says He is. And He has a whole lot to say about who He is. It is by increasingly coming to know who He is, that we come to discover who we truly are, His sons and His daughters, created out of His love, to be His.
One of the names He calls Himself is the “God who is there”, Adoni Shahmah. Last summer, as I sat by Russ’s bedside as he lay “partly dead” for a number of weeks, I really needed to know God was there, with me. It was an overwhelming, stark time, where I could not keep up emotionally or mentally with the changes and information being thrown at me day after day. My friends and family came to support me and be with me, and were an incredible help to me when I didn’t quite know how to ask for help. The challenge was in knowing how to be with myself, and with Jesus, in an emotional space I had never experienced before. It wasn’t a surprise to Jesus that this was going to be hard for me.
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You are familiar with all my ways. Psalm 139:1,2
But He has promised us, although we may have never “passed this way before”, He has. Deuteronomy 31:8 states that “...The Lord is the one who goes before you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor forsake you.”
As I encountered places in myself I had not known before, missing Russ desperately, unable to talk with him for several long weeks after being married for 32 years, Jesus kept reassuring me, “I will be with you.” It took a while for my heart to catch up with what my mind knew was His reality. It really is true. There is nowhere we can go, in place, time, emotion, thought process, where He will not go with us. He goes with us to our highest highs, and our lowest lows. His love for us is all-encompassing, ever-present, constant. This is His unconditional love: in His infinite wisdom, and most tender of mercy, He does not respect the boundaries we place on our own hearts.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. Psalm 139:7,8.
I began to experience the gentleness, the sweetness of His mercy in a way I had never known before. He whispered this encouragement to me, “Remember I’m here; lean on Me. And if you feel weak, lean even more. You aren’t supposed to be strong in and of yourself. I am your strength. I will always be here, I will never leave you, turn away or stop being for you. Everything you need is right here.”
I truly believe the most unexplored part of our universe is our own hearts. The place where we are to encounter God most profoundly is right here, within. He has already been there, but we have not. And it is His great joy to go there with us...and stay...always. And in making His manifest presence known to us, His joy fills us in recognizing He has joy in our presence.
If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. Psalm 139: 9,10
The amazing thing with our God, is that He knows us, everything about us, right where we are. You never, ever, have to feel that you have to be “on” with God. He has already been to your “off” place, anyway...even goes ahead of you into it! Let’s get over ourselves! He has!
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. Psalm 139: 17,18
God is not capable of rejecting you, turning His back on you, ever. There is nothing you are capable of doing that can possibly cause Him to do anything less than adore you. He knows all of our secrets, already; He’s already been there!
You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. Psalm 139: 5,6
Such amazing, unconditional, holy and tender love is beyond our comprehension. I think we have to just accept that as fact. But the really good news is that we don’t have to wait until we understand it to receive it. It’s all yours, already. The whole of His heart is yours for the asking. Just open up and receive.
Susan Fochler
One of the names He calls Himself is the “God who is there”, Adoni Shahmah. Last summer, as I sat by Russ’s bedside as he lay “partly dead” for a number of weeks, I really needed to know God was there, with me. It was an overwhelming, stark time, where I could not keep up emotionally or mentally with the changes and information being thrown at me day after day. My friends and family came to support me and be with me, and were an incredible help to me when I didn’t quite know how to ask for help. The challenge was in knowing how to be with myself, and with Jesus, in an emotional space I had never experienced before. It wasn’t a surprise to Jesus that this was going to be hard for me.
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You are familiar with all my ways. Psalm 139:1,2
But He has promised us, although we may have never “passed this way before”, He has. Deuteronomy 31:8 states that “...The Lord is the one who goes before you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor forsake you.”
As I encountered places in myself I had not known before, missing Russ desperately, unable to talk with him for several long weeks after being married for 32 years, Jesus kept reassuring me, “I will be with you.” It took a while for my heart to catch up with what my mind knew was His reality. It really is true. There is nowhere we can go, in place, time, emotion, thought process, where He will not go with us. He goes with us to our highest highs, and our lowest lows. His love for us is all-encompassing, ever-present, constant. This is His unconditional love: in His infinite wisdom, and most tender of mercy, He does not respect the boundaries we place on our own hearts.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. Psalm 139:7,8.
I began to experience the gentleness, the sweetness of His mercy in a way I had never known before. He whispered this encouragement to me, “Remember I’m here; lean on Me. And if you feel weak, lean even more. You aren’t supposed to be strong in and of yourself. I am your strength. I will always be here, I will never leave you, turn away or stop being for you. Everything you need is right here.”
I truly believe the most unexplored part of our universe is our own hearts. The place where we are to encounter God most profoundly is right here, within. He has already been there, but we have not. And it is His great joy to go there with us...and stay...always. And in making His manifest presence known to us, His joy fills us in recognizing He has joy in our presence.
If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. Psalm 139: 9,10
The amazing thing with our God, is that He knows us, everything about us, right where we are. You never, ever, have to feel that you have to be “on” with God. He has already been to your “off” place, anyway...even goes ahead of you into it! Let’s get over ourselves! He has!
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. Psalm 139: 17,18
God is not capable of rejecting you, turning His back on you, ever. There is nothing you are capable of doing that can possibly cause Him to do anything less than adore you. He knows all of our secrets, already; He’s already been there!
You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. Psalm 139: 5,6
Such amazing, unconditional, holy and tender love is beyond our comprehension. I think we have to just accept that as fact. But the really good news is that we don’t have to wait until we understand it to receive it. It’s all yours, already. The whole of His heart is yours for the asking. Just open up and receive.
Susan Fochler
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