"Who do you say I am?"

Today, I am refreshed.

I decided I needed to take a good chunk of time to sit alone with the Lord, so I turned on some worship music and cozied up under a blanket with my Bible and journal.

Work in particular has been really stressful for the last couple of months. People around the world are in so much need. My position is unique in that although I am involved on the operational side of things that requires objective input, meetings about inventory numbers and scheduling containers to pick up in the right places, etc, I am also in contact and/or relationship with many people around the world. Each one is in a different situation with varying needs. Of course, FMSC cannot meet all the needs that are put before us. It is my job to manage the needs and requests that come to us with compassion, offering hope to many who are suffering through conversation, connecting them to other international partners, or just praying for them. I am honored to carry this daily burden and offer Christ in me to them as much as possible.

But lately it has been too much for me. I have felt that I have nothing to give them. I have felt hopelessness. The recent destruction and death resulting from the typhoons in the Philippines has made me want to run and hide because I cannot understand such great suffering.

So here I was, looking to rest in God's presence and running to Him in hopes that He would be my hiding place. Where else could I go?

I started writing, mostly petitions to God that He would release me from these heavy burdens and come to the rescue of His people. But you can only plead with Him for so long before having to acknowledge the great God that He is, because to know Him is to trust Him enough to release your burdens to Him.

All the above is to preface this declaration of who our God is, especially in the midst of suffering and corruption:

You are God, my God, Lover of all, Restorer of all things, Provider, Healer, Redeemer, Sovereign King, Keeper of justice, worthy of judging, gracious and merciful, "other than", Father, our Comfort, our Hiding Place, our Resting Place, wise and honorable, always loving, never late. My we run to Him, our Solution, our Source, the Giver of freedom. He is always good. He is our only hope. He is YAHWEH!

May we always run to God and remind ourselves of who He is and always has been, especially in the midst of hardship, confusion, misunderstanding, and hopelessness. It is only through Him that we can be equipped to endure the weight of this world, being empowered by the knowledge of who He is and the hope that is for all to receive only through Him. Let us fix our eyes on Him who is the great I AM.