I know I missed a week last week. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t grateful – I most certainly was – but Thursday was the day we received the results of Matt’s biopsy and I needed to blog about that. So I’m trying to get back on track this week, because I have much for which to be grateful:
- friends…who pray, who call, who write little encouraging notes on my blog or Facebook wall, who bring over yummy banana bread, or who let me cry on their shoulders.
- family…who pray, who help, who encourage.
But I’m also grateful this week for the rich promises of God’s word. Promises I knew, but needed a refresher course on. Promises I may have forgotten. Promises I may have overlooked. Promises like…
- “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19) – from the Ordinary Heroes, Extraordinary Faith study guide.
- “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.” (Ps. 18: 30-32) – from Carla.
- “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.” (Isaiah 26: 3-4) – from Peggy B. and Mom.
- “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Romans 5:1-5) – from Mom.
- “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7) – from Tracy.
And the one He gave me last Friday, when I was really struggling with my perspective:
 All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”
(Ps. 139:16b)
I’m grateful God has given me a vivid imagination. When He put this verse into my head, He also gave me a mental picture to go with it:
There are times when I want to write a post right now, but don’t want to post it right away. I might get a sudden burst of inspiration, or maybe I want to write something related to a special day, or maybe I want to have something ready to go at a moment’s notice. So I write the post and save it in my drafts folder. Then, when the time comes, I click “Publish” and share that post with the world.
God – in His omniscience – has Matt’s entire life blogged. Every day. Every moment. Every second. Written down and filed away in His everlasting drafts folder. Each day, we get to read line-by-line, moment-by-moment what God has already written in eternity past. He and He alone knows how many posts are saved in that drafts folder. And when the last one is posted, we will see the full scope of Matt’s life and the story God chose to tell through him.
I don’t need to fear the future. God’s already got it written down. Every detail. And though my hope would be that there are thousands upon thousands of posts left, I can rest assured knowing that it’s all been planned. The story is complete. It’s now ours to live…and to trust.
Today, I am grateful for the story of Matt’s life, and for the comfort I can take in personally knowing its Author.