i’m sitting here in a coffee shop, listening in on parts of talks of grace & the gospel. the movement of people in and out the door and the clattoring of dishes with a faint sound of Mumford & Sons in the background behind the background. i’m not much for coffee, but i do love the shops.

nowadays, i continue learning the exact same things that i was a week ago. a month ago. a year ago. strange, but my pride never imagined i would still be on my knees pleading for more and more grace…pleading for a heart that says with joy, “yet not as i will but as you will, Lord.” asking for more and more mercy. more and more trust + thankfulness instead of anxiousness. i didn’t imagine a lot of things, for that matter. fickle, fickle, heart! the nights where my soul is anchored down feeling lonely haven’t gone away. the days where i come continually with empty hands, wrecked by my unworthiness and selfishness, realizing that i can’t do it, that only Jesus can, haven’t stopped.

the days ahead scream with uncertainty, and frankly, it scares me. i wish it didn’t. my flesh desires worry instead of resting in the sufficiency and sovereignty He promises. it’s sin, not the cross to which i should cling. instead of asking for wisdom, I doubt and waiver. hypocrite and double-minded, i am! how easy it is to have joy and trust Him when the times are grand and good. but when the sun goes away and the times become darker, you see how trust and counting the trials a joy are are continual battles, i think.

surrender. this is what Jesus is teaching me. surrendering my longings and anxiousness (philippians 4:6 has been wonderful); the things i grasp and hold on to. the joys of this life are so fleeting, so temporary, yet i still cling, hoping they’ll fulfill. i’m seeing how wrong i am and how sinful and foolish this is as I read philippians 3:8. how often i fall short & despair! BUT how good it is that i’m forgiven over and over because of Jesus (Just read Romans 8 or Ephesians 2). i’m learning, once again, how my circumstances are no mistake (because my times are in His hands, thus, He is sovereign) + for my good ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE (see romans 8:28), not mine.

i’m realizing how every day is being used to transform me more and more like Him and it’s producing a comfort as i run into the arms of my Savior, and also, a steadfastness. i’m learning, that yes, He is enough. there’s comfort and rest in that. praise Him that the same grace that has carried me here is the same grace that will carry me home (just read Isaiah 40). praise Him that there’s certainty in the uncertainty & praise him for coffee shops.

Sincerely,
Hannah