Nothing Is a Surprise to God

"...nothing is a surprise to God."

It's hard not to be frustrated by how quickly life got turned upside down in March. Or by how nothing is "normal" and won't be anytime soon. Four months have crept by, full of uncertainties and inconveniences and tension. For people like me...the ones who like control and a plan...it can be especially difficult to not know what things are going to look like going forward.

But then I started thinking about the Israelites in Exodus as Moses was leading them out of Egypt. They had a pillar of smoke and fire to guide them day by day: "In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out — until the day it lifted." Exodus 40:36-37

No plan. No calendar. No idea what the next day would hold. They simply watched. When God told them to move, they moved. When He told them to stay, they stayed. That would not be easy for me.

When I struggle with anxiety over the future, frustration over the chaos, anger over changed/canceled plans...I can rest assured that not one single thing going on is a surprise to God. We can trust His sovereignty. That His plan is far better than our plans. That His grace gives us strength.

My wrist tattoo is a constant reminder of God's grace, but also to give myself grace and to give others grace. My necklace from The Giving Keys is a reminder that I have hope on hard days.

Good things come from hard seasons. 🧡🖤🧡