All I really know for sure is that God is in the details. He is in the good, the bad, the ups and downs, the struggles and the average, ordinary days. God is in our muddled mess and seeks to use it for His glory.
Last week, I wrote about drawing near to God. I dug into what happens when our normal days are interrupted and cause us to pause due to change and possible redirection. I sought wisdom from God’s word and the whispers that only He can send our way. God began to teach me that He takes our muddled mess and makes it into His glorious certainty. God taught me that…
[Tweet “In our muddled mess, God becomes our glorious certainty.”]
God is in the details, this I know for sure. The one thing that pulled me through this past week was the promise that God was in every detail of my muddled week. It was knowing that…
When our week looks nothing like we expected, God is there in the interruptions, uncertainty and mess.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:7-10
When life looks bleaker than we imagined, God provides hope.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12: 12
When hard decisions come at us relentlessly, God creates the space to breathe.
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10
When exhaustion is our mantra, God covers our weariness with rest and peace.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28-29
All I really know is that God’s plan is perfect and there are no mistakes. The days that are blessings are just as important as the ones that challenge us. The questions are complete with answers of God’s choosing and His timing is flawless.
When my muddled mess clouds my vision, God’s promises to break through into glorious certainty. He is the certain in our uncertainty. His love never fails and His promises are true.
Heavenly Father,
You are in the dark and the light. Your strength covers our every weakness. When our days turn into uncertainty, you promise glorious certainty. Today we pray that when our life takes a pause, we see you in the interruption and redirection that you are lovingly leading. We pray that your presence surrounds us and leads us straight to your arms in an embrace of rest and peace. We love you and thank you for standing by us in every detail of our lives.
To you be the praise, honor and glory forever and ever! Amen!
In God’s gracious peace and love,
Mary
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Beautiful, Mary. I loved this –> “The days that are blessings are just as important as the ones that challenge us. ” I believe it was my pastor that shared in a sermon on blessings, how a blessing is anything that draws us closer to Him. And so often those challenging times do just that. So yes, may we draw near to Him in good and the challenging days and let Him be our constant.
Praying for you. Love you so.
Amen! I love that we draw closer to God in our blessings but also if we are realistic, it is in our challenges too. I am blessed by your prayers and knowing you are calling on God on my behalf, means so much. I’m praying that IF:Gathering was as amazing for you as it was for me. Blessings and hugs my friend! Love you!
Mary, this is such a soul-soothing read! You bless us here with wise and hopeful words of reassurance and with beautiful imagery to heighten their resonance. I need to linger here longer than it takes to read and reply. This is needful for me; this is timely, and this is just what so many of us require. Thank you, God, and thank you, Mary, for faithfully writing as He inspires you to! I’m always blessed so much every time I stop by here for some soul food. Xx
God continues to take me on this journey of clinging to Him constantly. He teaches me through His word and the ones that He wants me to share on this page. I am blessed that these words resonated with you. God is so good at doing that, isn’t he?
You bless me every time you stop by, Joy! Your encouragement is a gift. Praying you have a good week.
“When exhaustion is our mantra…” You’ve made me think with this, Mary. Exhaustion IS our mantra. We constantly talk about how busy, how tired we are, yet it’s often a busy trap of our own making. (okay, I’m on a bunny trail here…)
But yes, some weeks and days go differently than we planned. My day yesterday certainly did. These are so good to remember: We can Rest and Breathe in His Presence and Hope.
Thank you for blessing me with such sweet words. I seem to embrace exhaustion as my mantra when really I need to ask God to help me carry it. It seems as simple as letting go but I know I love to carry my mess (don’t ask me why). If it’s what we have always done, we many times feel like we should always do it. I pray we both are able to breathe and rest in God this week. Hugs and blessings!
Mary, God has been impressing this message on my heart for a couple of weeks now, and reading your words here today put a big smile on my face. (Don’t you lovei t when He repeats Himself to make sure you know? ) Thanks for the Holy Spirit nudge. xo
I love how God connects us to just the right people or the right words because he knows we need to hear it again. I am blessed that you stopped by to hear from God and that the right words were on this page. Can’t wait to hear more about this Holy Spirit nudge. Hugs!
Always so inspirational, Mary! I love your words, “The days that are blessings are just as important as the ones that challenge us.” So true! It’s that painful refinement that we all want to avoid and grumble about, but that is what is removing the “dross” and giving us the “shine” that catches the world’s eye. Who wouldn’t want to become that?! Great thoughts, my friend! Helps me lean into the “mess” because God is there to protect, guide and refine me!
God is always refining me and teaching me in so many ways. I am forever grateful that he never gives up on us because even after making the same mistakes, God gently guides me again.
Thank you for your sweet words, Beth! My words on this page are such a testament to God and are always a lesson that I am learning. Blessed to hear from you and for you to join me every week!
Mary, I love the pictures/memes here. They tell such a story. For it is in His presence that we find hope, and only once we breathe, can we truly rest. Love the scriptures that you chose to go along with each one. Your neighbor today over at MM.
Good to see you here today, Mary! My pictures are from places I take walks and this is where I find God and rest. I am glad the pictures spoke to you. Thank you for being here and joining in the conversation.
Lovely reminder that God’s plan is perfect even when it seems like a mess to us and that in the midst of it he is our certainty. Your photos are beautiful too.
Thank you Carly! I am resting in that truth today. God is in every detail, the certain in our uncertainty. It has been a daily prayer recently. I pray you feel God’s presence surrounding you as you move through the rest of your week.
Dear Mary, Beautiful, Hopeful Blog. I love it. As always, you leave me wanting more. Blessings Diana
I love having you here, Diana! Thank you for your sweet words. I pray you feel encouraged as you go through the rest of your week by God who is always the light in our darkness and who shines hope when life doesn’t go as planned. Blessings!
Your words and photographs are equally beautiful!
Thank you Susan! So good to see you here! Blessings upon your week!
Amen, Mary, amen! Beautiful prayer.
Lynette
Thank you Lynette! So good to see you here today! Sending blessings and hugs your way!
No where does our path lead that He has not already stood. Indeed He is with us, before us, and behind us. Such a hope-filled truth. I pray that God will give you wisdom and discernment in the days ahead, Mary.
Your prayer for wisdom and discernment is exactly what I need. I look to God and have been finding Him everywhere. His strength is what is seeing me through the interruptions of my life.
Blessed by your words and prayers. Thank you!
Breathe. Yes, yes. Every once in awhile I remind myself to take a deep breath, to drop my shoulders, to look around me.
It’s amazing how my perspective changes.
Muddled mess or no, He’s there. I’m so grateful!
Breathing deeply makes a huge difference. Every inhale and exhale is God breathing life into us once again. I am finding God everywhere thees days and it is a beautiful thing. Lots of changes have occurred with my dad struggling, but the blessing is that God is there in the interruptions, pauses and each little detail. Welcome back, friend! So good to see you!
Mary, such beautiful truth here. I’m so very thankful that there are no mistakes in God’s plan. I can’t allow myself to think, “If only I’d done _________ differently. Then I wouldn’t be __________ now.” God’s plans are perfect. Period.
The interruptions that come into our lives do not take God by surprise, because He is just that amazing. Now, to lean into the interruption He allowed into my life and be intentional about seeking His wisdom on how to best navigate it. 🙂
Great post, my friend!
I certainly don’t wish for you to go through a challenge right now, but I love that we are learning about interruptions together. I find that knowing others in similar situations makes it easier for all of us. God is going to teach you so much through your current interruption. I pray you see His hand over every detail, good or bad, and find Him as the one constant you can count on.
Blessed to call you friend and love that you are part of this community.
I love this hope-filled reminder that God is in ALL the details of our lives. That He is the certain in our uncertainty. I love the pics and their messages, too. Thank you, Mary.
Thank you Trudy! God is the great provider of hope, rest, presence and a space to breathe. May we all know God is in the details of our lives and provides the certain in our uncertainty. Hugs and blessings to you, Trudy!
Mary,
This is beautiful!! I remember, as a young mom, how I hated coming along behind everyone else and cleaning up their messes…how glad I am that God is not like me! He is an expert in taking our messes and redeeming them to bring beauty to us and glory to Himself. I’m also glad that God is certain…again, unlike me, God is not happy one day and moody the next. No, he is certain and constant. So glad we can cling to Him when everything around us is shifting sand. Praying with you through these trials you are facing!!
Blessings and ((hugs)) sweet friend,
Bev xx
Thank you for blessing me with these sweet words. Knowing God is with me, strengthens me to make it through each day. We can learn so much by really paying attention to all the times God shows up in the mess, in the sorrow, in the joy and in the blessings.
I love when you join me here, Bev. You share such good insight and sweet encouragement. Hugs!
Love this friend! So much THIS: “God began to teach me that He takes our muddled mess and makes it into His glorious certainty.” Oh and those Bible verses you chose, so so good! God is indeed the certain in our certainty.
You bless me every time you stop by, Tara! Thank you! I love how God takes our messy challenges and always turns them into good. May you feel God is the certain in your uncertainty everyday! Love and hugs!
Hi Mary! I could sit here a little while and stare at your images…they are so soothing. Just as God covers us with rest and peace. Love that! I’ll take more and more of that every day. I can certainly over-schedule myself, and feel hurried and worried, but His peace is there for the asking. What a grace.
May God send us His peace today, and cause us to rejoice!
Ceil
I love the images too because they remind me of beautiful walks I have taken. God always shows up when I give Him my time. I pray you find peace throughout your week and rejoice knowing God is in every detail of everyday! Blessings my friend!
No mistakes.
I love this, and I’m hearing your message of hope at the beginning of a week that isn’t “cooperating” with my plans. Thanks for seeing the sovereignty of God and pointing me there for this day’s need.
This message of hope is as much for you as it is me. The last few weeks have been very challenging for me. God meets us in our mess and knowing that makes it a little easier for me. Praying your week is blessed by unexpected grace and love.