You Got This

The other night, I was with a neighborhood group and we were meditating on the passage in Ephesians 1:3-10 in the Message: 

3-6 How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

7-10 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

The words that stood out to me as I was reading this are the ones I highlighted in bold above.  It is remarkable to me that he invites us into a celebration of his lavish gift-giving.   The only way to be able to enter into a celebration well is be present and to not focus on regrets of the past or the anxieties of the future.  And the only way to be able to be truly present in this way is to trust.   As our group reflected together, someone else shared that it struck her that we can rest in this truth that God has provided everything we can possibly need.  We often want to hold onto things and take control, but this passage points us to the truth that He's got us in His hands. 

This reminded me of the sign that I saw a spectator holding at a race this spring that said, "You got this!" as we were heading into the home stretch of the course.  

This sign usually is one that is a boost of confidence to finish strong. But the other night as we were looking at this passage in Ephesians, I thought of it in another way.  Rather than something for me, I saw it as a prayer of confidence directed from me to God.  As we are still in a place of piecing things together and learning to trust God for the next steps, I am able to shout out to God, "YOU GOT THIS!" with joy and confidence.  

May you hold this sign in prayer today as you are running the race....