Immanuel
Sustained.
The one single word that has echoed in my heart over the last 4 weeks. Not drowning, not overwhelmed, not at my end, simply sustained.
By definition… to be carried or to withstand a pressure.
The pressure is rising…..Sustained.
Doubt is creeping in …..Sustained.
But the world says……...Sustained.
What if He doesn’t do it…..I have always sustained you.
The storm that took our home and farm swept through 2 weeks before Christmas. There was honestly a lot in the physical to be stressed over. In one instant, your family's safe place, all belongings, gone. Years of memories and collections. You feel guilt for grieving over the ‘things’ because you really are, at your core, just grateful for LIFE. But still… there it is. The Christmas tree, mantel, presents, fireplace with stockings, decorated family table, family china ready, the space you had ‘prepared’ for family Christmas.
our home Christmas decorations
Kati threaded popcorn and berries forever
Our family table my husband handcrafted himself from lumbar harvested off my grandpa’s farm
As quickly as the grief would enter our thoughts, it didn’t have time to linger. They were always replaced with gratitude. The Lord literally sustained us through the holiday season without lack. I like to call the two weeks before Christmas, Immanuel. God was literally with us. We were living in days of provision. He walked through the door with every giver. He supplied every need through ones we will never even meet. He clothed us. He wrapped His arms around us through our church family and community. He gave us beds to sleep in without ever asking. The home we will heal in as we build, He was prompt to provide.
We had never met this family. This is a picture of them carrying in mattresses for each of our bedrooms.
Matthew 25: 35 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
The Lord has literally clothed us.
He has fed us.
He has invited us in.
He has looked after us.
He is Immanuel.
Christmas might’ve not been what I had laid out in my mind, but isn’t that the way of the Lord? We had seen Him, our children had seen Him. We had watched Him move on our behalf, and there is nothing more beautiful this side of Glory. We continue to watch Him move.
There is JOY in this picture. Christmas 2021.
The greater the pressure the more beautiful the diamond. The hotter the fire, the more refined the gold. Whatever you’re facing today, Consider it joy, for it’s in the testing of your faith that you produce perseverance. The Lord is in the business of making beauty from ashes.
James 2:1-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and compete, not lacking anything.
No matter the trial, consider it joy.
No matter the heartache, consider it joy.
No matter the doctor’s report, consider it joy.
No matter… consider it joy.
You are sustained. You will persevere. You will lack nothing. Because ultimately, this is not our home. As long as there is the hope of Glory, we know that in the end we lack nothing, we persevere, we are sustained. Our Spirit will always testify to the goodness of God.
As we look toward the rebuilding process, there are times it seems overwhelming. I look around and forget where I’m at and how I got here. It seems surreal. But God sustains and He provides all things. Hopefully I can share some progress pictures from the farm in my next post. There has definitely been a lot of progress made.
Truly, no one has ever cared for me like Jesus. He is Immanuel, God with us, we will consider it all pure joy.
If my Heart could tell a story
If my life could sing a song
If I have a testimony
If I have anything at all
No one ever cared for me like Jesus
His faithful hand has held me all this way
And when I’m old and grey
And all my days are numbered on the Earth
Let it be known, in you alone, my JOY was found.
-No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus, Steffany Gretzinger
