Last week the challenge was to meditate on the lyrics of the song "Never Once" by Matt Redman and post about how they spoke to you. I had never actually even heard this song, so I was pretty excited to delve into the unknown a bit. And although all of the words are beautiful, the title (which is repeated over and over again throughout the entire song) is what continually jumped out at me.
Never Once... think about that phrase. To me, it's pretty finite, and here it apples to the frequency that God has not been there for you. Never Once. When it comes to relationships in our lives, how many times have you let someone down? How many times have you told someone you'd be there and then something came up and it all fell through? There is not a single person on the planet who can answer "never once" to those questions.
But God can.
What really moves me is the thought that God has always been there for me, even through the times when I did not deserve His love. I grew up in a Christian household, but in order to call yourself a follower of anything, you have to actually obey and follow the ways of whomever you're choosing to follow. Makes sense, right? Well, let's just say that even though I grew up in a Christian household, at some point I just chose to make my own decisions, carve my own path, and go my own way. And because we're all born with some sense of right and wrong coupled with the teachings of the Bible from my upbringing, I always had an inward struggle through these years. It was as if I was butting heads with God, but didn't want to admit it. I would try to pray to Him, but actually felt too guilty to do so. And I would only go to Him when things were at the worst and I would be at my lowest low. I failed to praise Him for the good, which is something I try to do daily now, and instead only ran to Him in the bad... and felt extremely guilty for treating Him that way. Any other relationship in the world would not last through that kind of one-sidedness. But God? Well, I know now that He just patiently waited on me. How many times did He leave me? Never Once. Sure, sometimes I couldn't feel His presence, and sometimes I felt like He had abandoned me, but looking back, it was probably due to the fact that I did not spend a whole heck of a lot of time seeking Him. God wants to speak to us, but in order to have a conversation you need to seek His words and His wisdom. And where do we find this? In His book of course. You might not read the right passage or find comfort in the words of your daily reading right away, but if you continue to seek Him through your struggles, you will stumble upon the answer eventually. That's the beauty of His promise.
I don't know where you are right now in your walk. Maybe you've been a Christian for as long as you can remember or maybe you are how I was and have a foundation, but no relationship and are living by your own rules. Maybe you are "all in" or maybe you're just testing the waters and trying to figure out this thing that is so much bigger than ourselves. But rest in the peace and comfort today that God is there no matter where you're at. God is with you whether you like it or not in fact! Seek Him and you will always find Him... and eventually you will see that God will never once let you down and that life is truly easier and more abundantly blessed when we do it His way. Now that's a relationship that's worth having!
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
(Matthew 7:7-8)
As always, you can check out what Brittany wrote over on her blog (found here). We also have a friend who has chosen to join us weekly and she's posting over at her blog "Welcome To Deckerville" (found here). She has a huge heart for God and is going through some pretty tough stuff in regards to their new baby, which she has chosen to share in order to better help and minister to others. And if you posted on this topic, please link up below or leave a comment.
It was Brittany's turn to pick so here is what we'll be reflecting on this week:
As for next week, I would like to pick a scripture in James 4 and it is just one verse - verse 10
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up"
This is a "life verse" for me and I feel like re-visiting and meditating on it this week! Sorry for being selfish, but I believe there is POWER and FREEDOM in this verse! Join us in memorizing this scripture and responding to how it spoke to you this week!
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