Echoes

I love those moments when God repeats something to you. Those times in your life when you read something, and then hear a sermon on it, then hear it on TV. Or you pray something, then see a billboard about it, then hear it on the radio. Lately God has been repeating things to me and it is SO AWESOME! I love these times. I love when I can hear God and I know that he is so REAL and I know that he is active. Actually active in my teeny little life. It makes life so much more worth living when I realize that God the Creator of the Universe, the same one who birthed The Messiah and holds Canus Majorus in His hands is actually active in my life, is actually showing up in my life, is actually speaking to me in my little bitty life.

I had a rough few months between December and March. I was pretty lonely and felt discouraged in my work life. I was feeling so confused and searching so desperately and so lost in my thoughts. I went on a trip to see some friends in California during this time which was probably the best thing I could have done for myself. It was so spontaneous and impractical and bad for my pocket book and random, but it was just what I needed. A random crazy spontaneous impractical vacation to one of the most chaotic crowded wild and both life-sucking and life-giving cities in the world. While sitting on a beach one day in sunny California, I came upon Isaiah 43. I remember that day. I remember being so at peace. I remember being so jealous that I didn't live there. I remember wanting to stay right there forever.

I was praying and asking God for direction. I was feeling called to California and I just kept feeling like God was confirming that in so many ways. I haven't moved there yet, but part of me still feels it. However I know it's not the time now. Anyhow while sitting on that beach, all alone, staring out at the ocean, and praying to my Father, I came upon that passage. Isaiah 43. It was so comforting.

1 But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
      O Israel, the one who formed you says,
   “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
      I have called you by name; you are mine.
 ² When you go through deep waters,
      I will be with you.
   When you go through rivers of difficulty,
      you will not drown.
   When you walk through the fire of oppression,
      you will not be burned up;
      the flames will not consume you.
 ³ For I am the Lord, your God,
      the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
   I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom;
      I gave Ethiopia^[a] and Seba in your place.
 ⁴ Others were given in exchange for you.
      I traded their lives for yours
   because you are precious to me.
      You are honored, and I love you.
 ⁵ “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
      I will gather you and your children from east and west.
 ⁶ I will say to the north and south,
      ‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israel
      from the distant corners of the earth.
 ⁷ Bring all who claim me as their God,
      for I have made them for my glory.
      It was I who created them.’”

God was telling me "Do not be afraid." Promising me that he was with me. That he is always with me. I felt like he was confirming move to California. Or in the very least, promising to go with me. One of the verses that stood out to me was 19.

¹⁹ For I am about to do something new.
      See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
   I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
      I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

I remember being so excited by that verse. God was about to do something new. No more days of confusion and loneliness. No more despair and loss of direction. My God, the one who brought the Israelites out of Egypt. The one who led Moses through the desert was about to do something new.

So of course I forgot about it. In classic me fashion, I was pumped and them promptly forgot God's promises to me.

But then, two weeks ago I was at my last class for BSF. We went through Isaiah this year, and one of the women stood up and quoted Isaiah 43:19. When I thumbed through my Bible to find it, I saw that I had underlined it that day in California. But this time when I read it, the words, "Do you not see it?" stood out to me. As if God was asking me, "Child, do you not see it? I am doing it RIGHT NOW!" So I circled those words and held onto that hope.

So of course I forgot about it...

But then, last night, I was at a friend of mines house and he asked me what mug I wanted to use. I picked a certain one out of the three he offered and I have no idea why. Something about the color of it. Later, for some odd reason, I was holding it over my head when I saw, written on the bottom, "Isaiah 43:19." So I grabbed a Bible that was sitting right next to me and read it. And lo and behold it was that verse. The one I'd forgotten about. The one God kept reminding me of.

I told my friends about it and they were not at all as excited about it as I was. So I thought, maybe it was just a me thing. But then tonight I went by one of my other friend's houses. She usually gets excited about the things I get excited about so I thought I would run it past her. Afterward, she told me that whole passage is incredibly important to her. God uses Isaiah 43 to speak to her often. And I knew that God was using it to speak to both of us.

He is doing something new in both of our lives. He has not forgotten us. He is with us. He will lead a way through the wilderness and he will give water to the desert. He is with us. I also felt like God was confirming our friendship, which I know he has already done.  I'm not sure yet what God is doing in my life, but I know it is new. I know it is beautiful. I know it is good. I know it is redemption.

So God echoes peeps. He echoes through repeating Bible verses, stories, words.  He shows us secrets that are only between us and Him and then pops them up in random places at random times. It might seem like a common Bible verse or a phrase that people are just repeating, but that's not always the case. Sometimes it's something that God wants you to hear. He wants you to try to remember. I for one think it's pretty AMAZING. God, in all of his Glory, choosing to repeat himself to little itty bitty me.

I love Him so much. What an amazing God we are honored to be loved by.

Love.