As many of you know, my best thinking usually occurs on the trail, just God and I, among the trees. It is harder again now with the snow, ice, and mud but I have come to love the unpredictability of the ground as I run. It’s weird, I know. Not so much with life circumstances though. I do not have a natural fondness for uncertainty in my days. I want to see how things will work out. But I can not see everything right now. Uncertainty threatens.
God gently reminded. This is what faith is all about. Faith comes in when there is a gap, a gap between the reality of today and what could be or will be in the future. All of a sudden, I remembered some scripture and a little exercise Jeanine Larson led a group of us through many years ago. I learned much from Jeanine as I watched her love and follow Jesus. She asked us to use Psalm 136 as a template. We were to remember what God had done in our lives and write it out in between the lines “his love endures forever” which repeats over and over in the Psalm.
Remembering what God has done in our lives is like the fence I used to steady me on part of the trail filled with ice today. It is a safeguard which gives us strength to keep moving even when it is hard. Remembering builds our faith when we are in the midst of the next thing where we need God to show up.
Here is my own Psalm 136 for today. I challenge you to do it yourself with your own story as a way to begin the new year.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His love endures forever.
to him who alone does great wonders.
His love endures forever.
who delivered me from roller-coaster self-worth.
His love endures forever.
who made me see how I could read, study, and understand the Bible myself. (empowered by the Holy Spirit)
His love endures forever.
who provided for our family through many lean years.
His love endures forever.
who used 813 Weber to show me I don’t need a perfect or new house to be satisfied.
His love endures forever.
who delivered me from shame and despise.
His love endures forever.
to him who has given us too much.
His love endures forever.
to him who has brought me into an identity wilderness and out again.
His love endures forever.
to him who has given me incredible opportunities beyond my imagination.
His love endures forever.
to him who gave my marriage the TLC it needed.
His love endures forever.
to the One who will see us through this next thing.
His love endures forever.
to the One who has given me burning passion and desire for people to know him deeply.
His love endures forever.
to the One who will show me the way yet again this year.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
I am truly thankful for a God who is steady when I am not. Here’s to him and his love showing up in 2017.
jennifer mary smith 