He Goeth Before

This past year has been a challenge health-wise for me. My body continually goes through periods of energy and health, and then into bouts of no energy, skin problems, and unhappy insides. It has also been a year of changes. I have had over ten close friends and relatives  this year who are either engaged, newlyweds, or expecting their first baby. And the scary thought is that those people are my age. MY AGE. And then the hammer of shame comes down upon me as I think, “I am so unprepared for life.”

Immature. Unhealthy. Can’t teach math. Irresponsible. Imperfect.  Lazy. Neglect my Bible. Wasteful. Failure. SCARED.

We've all had those thoughts. At least I hope that I'm not the only one. These are thoughts brought to us by  God's enemy. Thoughts we often accept, clinging to them as an excuse to avoid what God has for us.

Before each summer, I pick one book to go through as a sort of preparation for two very important needs ~ emotional and spiritual. I write down notes, quotes, and other thoughts that I gain from the viewpoint atop someone elses shoulders, then I plaster the inside of my travel journal with them along with hymns and Scriptures that the Lord gives me for the trip.

Amy Carmichael is my favorite. No matter what book I pick up that is written by her, or written about the brown eyed missionary, I always walk away with something to think about, act upon, and a deeper desire to  go and serve the Lord.

I have read Elizabeth Elliot’s book about Amy dozens of times. It is about the life she lived, and the legacy she left behind. One of the pictures in the book is a page in her Bible. On it she wrote short but powerful phrases, some that are unreadable.

But on the bottom of the page there is written a phrase in big, bold print.

He Goeth Before.

I have read it countless times, sketched it, repeated it to myself at night, and written it in my own Bible. It is a truth that I so often forget, and one that I cling to again and again.

Before each sun rises ~ I can be sure that my Lord knows my day and the strength I will need for it.

Before each trip I take ~ God has prepared all the the details from food to the condition of a persons heart.

Before each cave of weakness I fall ~ God has been there.

Before each sick day ~ my Lord has prepared the way for me to get through it.

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Can’t I trust Him with the wonderful knowledge that He is by my side the whole way, patiently and lovingly revealing to me what He has already prepared in advance?

It may well be test and trial, heartache and sorrow. 

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But if we climb to see it from His shoulders, it is something beautiful.

Whether it be marriage, a family, travel, friendship, poopy diapers, math lessons, heartache, or 55 years in India ~ He has gone before all of it.

We should not fear what He has brought us or what will come, but we should welcome it, and rejoice through it.

“…the star which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” {Matt. 2:9-10}