Struggling Well With Life

We love the whole idea of Immanuel, God being with us.  We love this because no matter what we are facing, no matter what comes into our lives, and no matter what is taken from us - we are not alone.  When all earthly support fails, and it does, there is this comforting reality that we cling to - the presence of God.  It is probably the greatest comfort in this human existence.  We offer it to others when there is literally no other truth that will touch their pain, and we remind ourselves of the same when the bottom falls out.  God being with us ( I am with you always, even to the end of the age) is profoundly comforting, but if you allow this truth to resonate a bit, this truth is profoundly compelling as well.  God is with us, He knows us and is more intimately acquainted with us than any friend,sibling or spouse.  He knows the secret thoughts, motives, and behaviors that have been kept from sight.  The tragedies of sin and moral failings of our lives don’t just happen in the spur of a moment, they begin in the ever small places within us, and having room to grow in secret they appear on the scene eventually with a sense of surprise to others, but not to us, not really.  We are not alone, nothing is secret, there is no private place that is not known by Immanuel.  Comforting and compelling.