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What does it mean to you?
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What do you think of?
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I can immediately think of enemies all around me. Fear. Darkness. Anxieties abounding. Worries skyrocketing.
But that's not my narrative.
My narrative? "The LORD surrounds His people." And that includes me.
When I think of God, sometimes I think: Separated. Or Separation. Like He is so far away from me. Too far. Like He is not accessible. Like this comfort, this refuge, this stability, this agape love that my soul so desperately longs for is a fairytale. A distant hope and dream at best. But that is a lie. See -- He came down to be with us. Jesus. Emmanuel. God with us. He came down to be with us. While it's true that sin causes separation from a Holy God -- that doesn't have to be the end of the story. It isn't meant to be the end of the story. This God is accessible. He is not out of reach. He hears our cries. He comforts us in our afflictions. He lifts us up from the pit. He is with us in the darkest valley. His steadfast love is one that can be counted on. He is faithful.
And while our feelings may tell us that God is not with us, we can choose to believe otherwise. While our surroundings may cloud our vision and cause a mirage of desolation, we do not have to remain in a state of despair. We do not have to live in hopelessness. We can cast that off. We can choose to look up.
We can be a people who choose to believe in Him. We can choose to believe what may not feel true. We can choose to believe that we are not alone.
Isolation is a beast.
But...
Surrounded. Surrounded by God.
That can be your narrative.
That is my narrative. I no longer have to live in fear. I no longer have to be plummeting far down into the pit of darkness. I no longer have to be surrounded by my deepest anxieties and nightmares. That no longer has to serve as my narrative.
I can throw away the narrative of separated. I can throw away the narrative of isolated. I can throw away the narrative of surrounded if it pertains to my fears and anxieties. I can embrace this new narrative of Surrounded. Surrounded by God. Surrounded by His goodness. Surrounded by His love. Surrounded by His peace. Surrounded by His grace. Surrounded by His faithfulness.
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"As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people from this time forth and forever." - Psalm 125:2
"The pangs of death surrounded me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears." - Psalm 18:4-6
"Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me!" - Psalm 66:20
"In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He heard me." - Psalm 120:1
