Surely, I am with you always – Jesus (Matthew 28)

So I have been working my derrière off in the new house. There’s much more to do, but I have been making steady progress. My status has moved from “Overwhelmed and immobilized,” to “I really think we can get this done.”

The overwhelm came from walking into the house and not being able to see anything but floor to ceiling boxes and piles of furniture. You know that puzzle that has only one empty space, the one where you have to keep shuffling the one empty space around in order to recreate the picture? Well, that was our house today: move ten items in order to relocate just one. It honestly seemed an impossible labor to engage.

THANKSGIVING: But then, trying to wrap my head around the problem, I thought about Thanksgiving dinner, and the kitchen afterwards. Pots and pans and more from thirty-plus people chowing down on a huge feast. The mess covers every available space and extends into other parts of the house. How is cleaning possible? Even the sink is ten-deep with dishes! Where do I begin?

The answer, of course, is to pick up one dish, wash it, put it in the cupboard, and move on to the next one. Then repeat the process, one small item at a time. The key is to look at the one, manageable, problem directly in front of you rather than the mountain of challenge that appears impossible to negotiate. It’s about opening one box, moving one piece of furniture, cleaning one shelf, and then moving on to the next one.

FAITH: Sometimes I think that’s exactly how God works with me. God doesn’t make difficulties go away, but, instead, God stands with me at the moment, in the moment, promising never to let me go. That way, even the most impossible journey becomes nothing more than a series of steps, and we are never alone.

And we are never alone. “Surely” Jesus said, “I am with you always.” Always, and that includes this very moment.

Always – DEREK