God's Perseverance

Have you ever missed a miracle? God working in through and around you, but you missed it?  Have you ever longed for an answer to prayer? Have you ever wanted healing in a relationship? Sometimes God has already answered through his perseverance, his presence in our situation.

After my dad passed away, I went through a brokenness that was deep, painful and ever present.  I was hurting in ways I didn’t know were possible. In looking back on that season, God was present, working, shaping, molding me. At the time I did not realize he was there, preserving in me a purpose and a passion. His presence was the answer to my aching prayers.

I have read Matthew 1 many many times.  At one point I had even memorized it. Today, preparing for Advent, I read it again and noticed something I have never noticed before.  A miracle. I am sure if you are like me, you often glance over the genealogies in scripture. Most of the names you can’t pronounce.  It is boring to read who was the father to whom.  But go back and read it again.  Scripture really is alive and active.  Over a period of 2000 years, 42 generations, a blood line is preserved.  

• God preserved a male in every generation. 

• God kept them healthy, free from sickness, surviving wars, famines 

• He allowed the males to marry and reproduce a healthy baby son that survived.

• Through famines, exiles, multiple moves, wars, promise lands, God preserved a male line through Abraham, Judah, David, to Joseph.  

• God preserved through the sinful acts of many of these men, to keep a line pure, consistent to provide salvation through the birth of Jesus.

I am sure God was frustrated with these men through the generations. But he patiently preserved them.  He lovingly created a pathway that leads from Abraham, the promised one to Jesus the fulfillment of that promise. God alone preserved for his purpose and his plan. Nothing can thwart God’s plan. Not for 2000 years or 42 generations.  God is at work. He goes before, behind and beside. 

It has been 28 years since my dad passed away.  God has preserved in our lives.  He has 4 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. I have learned to lean into community. I have carried a legacy of hope and healing to many people. God has allowed me to speak into people who are struggling with pain, depression, and hurting in a way that I would not have been able to without this pain in my own background. My story is still being written, my dad is interwoven throughout the pages of the story. He has shaped who I am and guided my thoughts, my actions. God really does work all things for our good. If you had asked me 28 years ago how God could bring anything good from this pain, I would have been speechless.  Now seeing how God has worked I am speechless because he is so good, so kind and has woven my deepest pain into a beautiful healing and restoration. 

If you are struggling in this season, wondering where God is in your life.  He is right here. Right now.  He is preserving in you his purpose and his plan.  Seek to cooperate, to be an active part of his plan.  He is working all around you even if you can’t see him.  He never fails.  Trust in God’s perseverance for your life.  He is always at work for our good, even if it isn’t easy. The struggle can be a part of his plan.