Never Once

A few weeks ago, I was introduced to the song "Never Once" by Matt Redman.


Listen.


Never Once -- Matt Redman


The lyrics are incredibly powerful. Did you really read them?


Scars and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts can say: 
Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did you leave us on our own
You are FAITHFUL God, you are faithful. 


Faithful.


College seems like an oxymoron sometimes.
There are people around you. all the time. 24/7. 
And yet, loneliness plagues me.


When I sit and sulk in my loneliness, it festers. It envelopes me.


But when I bring it openly and honestly before the Lord, he fills it.
Maybe not until 3 days later.
Or 2 minutes later.
Or a year later. 


But he always fills me.


Always.
Faithful.


Never once did we ever walk alone.


The other night, I had to make myself move. I needed to get out, do something. As I walked on the path, I watched people in front of me, walking arm in arm with friends.


And I felt incredibly alone.
I wanted to turn around and go hide in my room. 
But I remembered the lyrics of this song.
Never once did I ever walk alone.


Not even right now.
So I asked the Lord to walk with me. Arm in arm. To hold my hand. 
And He did.


Never once did you leave us on our own.


The Lord has continued to provide in crazy amazing ways. People, food, places, love, hugs. Time, comfort, trust. His beauty and abundance have been so evident, even in the darkest places.


Always in His timing, not mine.
A hard, but incredibly beautiful lesson.


Never once did he leave me on my own.


You are Faithful God. You are faithful.


Faithfulness is a word that gets tossed around a lot. What does it actually mean?


Constant.
         Steady in Allegiance.
                     True to one's word.




“The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. Deuteronomy 7:7-9


He is El Hane'eman: The Faithful God. 


So. Life is rough sometimes. I totally get that. And it stinks. It really does.
Suffering is a part of life. A necessary and inevitable part of life.
Grief, pain, sadness, loneliness.
But, surprisingly, there is some mysterious, powerful beauty in it, if you open your eyes for just a moment. 


I choose to step out.
To GROW.
Learn from the darkness.
Find the light.


And sometimes, that light is the tiny little sliver of light that creeps under the door of a dark room.
But it's always there.

 I well remember them,
   and my soul is downcast within me. 

 Yet this I call to mind
   and therefore I have hope:

 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
   therefore I will wait for him.”

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
   to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
   for the salvation of the LORD. 

Never ONCE did we EVER walk alone.

NEVER once did he leave us on our own.

YOU are FAITHFUL God.

you are faithful.