The 40 Day Journey - Day 33 (El Shaddai)

Genesis 17:1
Now when Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "I am God Almighty walk before Me, and be blameless.

Psalm 91:1
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

Sleep won over blogging last night. 32+ days of late nights has finally taken its toll! 8 hours of peaceful sleep sure was wonderful! Thankful for God's grace everyday. This 40 day journey is winding down and I have started reflecting on it a little bit. I keep pushing those thoughts aside as I don't want to miss what God has TODAY for me. It is so easy to worry about the future and look at regrets of yesterday, yet that is not God's plan for us.

Matthew 6:33-34 says,"But seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

And Philippians 3:13b-14, "...but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

That Philippians verse used to confuse me. The part about forgetting what lies behind especially. Aren't we supposed to remember what God has done? Earlier in Philippians Paul lists some of his resume. In verse 6 he lists "persecutor of the church". As you know Paul was an enemy of the church, his treatment would have been front page news today. It was heartbreaking. Then God revealed Himself to Paul and he did a 180, becoming a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ.

When Paul says he will "press on" toward his new goal, that is the same word in Greek as "persecutor" he used in verse 6. What Paul is saying is he used to be a pursuer of the church (to destroy) and now he is a pursuer of Jesus (to bring life). He is choosing to forget that old life, that old man, because he has been made new. He came to the end of his old self. God Almighty stepped in and now he can look forward to God's purpose for him.

Let me bring this back around.  El Shaddai. The Lord Almighty. It has been 24 years since God told Abram to leave his home and God had said He would make him a great nation. And life hasn't gone exactly the way he thought. There is still no son and he is now 99 years old. It is too late. They tried in their humanness to make this plan work through Hagar and that was a disaster. Abram was at the end of himself. Finally.

When we are at the end ourselves, when we admit we cannot do this life in our own strength, God steps in as El Shaddai, God Almighty: God All Sufficient and God All Powerful. Is there a care from a yesterday that is consuming you? Give it to God Almighty, forgetting your old self. Remember what the Almighty has done (that is the remembering we are to do). Are you worried about tomorrow? He is already there. What is He asking of you, of me, today? Psalm 91 says to abide in the shadow of the Almighty, that sounds pretty wonderful to me.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the name of the Lord is Almighty, you are safe.