Revelation Chapter 4

Revelation Chapter 4
“Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.””
Revelation 4:8, NIV
 
Prayer Over Our Children
Oh Lord, open the doors of heaven and reveal Your glorious wonders to my child. May she see the flashes of lightning and hear the rolls of thunder which surround Your throne. Oh God, how I pray that she might join with Your angelic hosts as they lift their voices and bow before You in worship. Let her proclaim Your infinite holiness as the One who is, who was, and who is to come. Oh God, I pray that her lips will overflow with glory, honor, and thanksgiving to You who sits on the throne and lives forever. Just as Your heavenly creatures lay down their crowns before You, may she also lay down her crown of life at Your feet. Oh God, I pray that she will worship You who has created and given life to all things for You are the only one worthy of receiving all glory, honor, and power forever. Amen. 
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Before Us
    
     At 8:30 in the morning it was already warn and sticky. It did not help that I was jumping on the trampoline. Strands of hair clung to my forehead and my clothes plastered against my skin. Sweat trickled and ran.
     In the early morning, rain soaked the ground. A thin layer of water pooled in places on the rubber canvas. Mud rather than packed earth now held up the jumping apparatus. As a result, it shuddered and slid in the soft soil. But I was undeterred. Amidst the humidity, chirping birds, unstable surface, and straining muscles, my mind turned heavenward.
     Thoughts and scenarios danced through my brain. Often, God uses my time of exercise to speak to my heart and order my steps for the day. With cell phone blaring praise and worship songs throughout my workout, the Holy Spirit whispers through the lyrics to my soul. More often than not, my heart and voice cry out to God from distress, worries, and wonderings. But, by the end of the workout, God has ministered to my soul with peace and clarity.
     Today, was no exception. I leaped to my favorite worship song, relishing the burn in my muscles, and savoring the words of the song. But suddenly, words which I have heard a million times stopped me in my tracks.
     *” May His presence go before you, and beside you, and behind you. All around you and within you, He is with you, He is with you.” My mind struggled to understand this linear fluidity. How can God go before me yet still be with me? Is God before me? I questioned, even in the bad? Even with this COVID-19? How? My mind skidded and halted as my bouncing slowed to a crawl. Yet as I wrestled with these two interconnecting paradigms, I suddenly realized that I was surrounded by the evidences of these very truths. In fact, the very thing on which I bounced bore witness and testified of their veracity.
     During these COVID-19 times, we parents have scrambled to secure exercise and entertainment measures for our children. Bicycles, plastic building pieces, play dough, toys, and board games have become invaluable resources. An absolute lifesaver during this time of quarantine for us has been our trampoline. In fact, a close friend of mine ordered a trampoline back in April and it has still not yet arrived.
    As my body bounded up and down, God merged the past into the present to illustrate these paradoxical truths. Like a veil being torn away, God gave new understanding. He showed me how He had been before us the very day we received the gifting of the trampoline. As this generous gift was selected and received, He already knew the unprecedented events which would transpire this year. Yet, He was with my husband’s parents as He guided their choice of a special gift two Christmas is ago. Likewise, He was with us in our joy of receiving such a generous, fun gift. But He had also gone before us in that He secured for us this trampoline which would become a vital mainstay of our COVID-19 days.
     Other insights popped into my mind as past events now flooded my brain. God’s orchestration of my daughter’s return to private school this past year also testified of these conflicting truths. Last spring, we agonized over our inability to send Sweet Pea back for the final year in her program. But God made a way and opened the door. I was so grateful for her return, yet I never dreamed that her return to this precious school would serve to be a light in the darkness during these times. As schools closed around us, I soon found our little private school making available resources and bringing order to what other surrounding schools could not. God had gone before us last year by making a way for Sweet Pea to return to her school. Yet He was with us now as we bore fruits from His very provision.
     Then, with startling clarity, I suddenly saw how God even went before us with our personal finances. During a time when many are out of work, God timed the payoff of certain debt amid this global pandemic. As a result, a new hope has been born with the realization of a cherished dream. Amidst a time of fear, depression, and paranoia, God went before me by perfectly timing when He would bring seed into harvest.
     Yet, even when our circumstances are dark and desperate, God is already before us. He has already made a way for us through the wilderness and His light is there to guide us. Oh friends, our God who is with us yet before us, who surrounds us but is within us, is the God of hope who will never let you go. He is telling us to hang onto Him for He has already paved a way, we just have to reach out and take hold. It is within this divine paradox of God is the One who is, who was, and is to come where we place our confidence and trust. For it is only an all-powerful, all present, and all-knowing God who can be with us yet before us, around us but within us, and beneath us yet beside us. Afterall, He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
     Let us take comfort dear friends and parents with the knowledge that God is not only with us, but He is before us. May our lungs breathe deep the truth of how He is beside us, within us, and surrounding us through every difficult and trying time. We are not alone dear friends. Rather, we have the most powerful Defender, Advocate, and Friend one could ever hope to have if we only let Him in and allow Him to walk with us. This day, may we choose to surrender to the God who is, who was, and who is to come. May we bow before the Lord God Almighty who is worthy of our praise.
 
*song lyrics from The Blessing by Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes
Michael W. Smith – Agnus Dei: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPBmFwBSGb0
A Parent’s Prayer
Oh Lord, thank You for how You are with me every second of the day. Thank You for going before me in every circumstance and that You are in control. Oh Lord, help me to trust that You have already made a way for me and are working through all the challenges and the trials. Thank you for You are Lord God Almighty and worthy to be praised.
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