The God Before Us

​I AM is the name God ascribed himself when he met Moses in the burning bush. It is a name that carries with it the connotation of eternality - the notion that our God is not finite, but has existed and ruled from before the creation of the universe. But the scripture that is clear about this God who temporally precedes us is also clear that this same God goes ahead of us - paving the way for his plans to be fulfilled and his name to be praised. It is this God, who when residing in eternity past (if we can use such language), planned for the salvation of his children who had yet to be created. And it is this God who preserved Israel and set up history in such a perfect way as to lead to the work of the cross - that which would accomplish his eternal purposes. Our God that is before us goes before us.
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Sometimes this truth seems to be a distant truth, as we question where our omnipotent God is in our pain. Without seeing the whole picture, in our misery, we are left to rely only on what we have been told about God and hope we are right about him. When we cannot feel his love, we can only hope that his love does indeed endure, like we believe it does. For when we feel forsaken, it is usually easiest to believe that God isn't who he really says he is or that he doesn't see us and love us in our struggles. It is often easiest to come to the conclusion that God is an imposter or that we are not truly his children rather than conclude that that this omnipotent God could love us while allowing harm to befall us.

But God has provided us more than his word and our sentiments. God reveals himself to us in his actions. Hebrews 11 tells us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who attest to God's faithfulness. Their stories of God's miraculous hand and their stories of God’s triumph through their trials, tribulations, and failings are to be an encouragement to us. But sometimes this seems like a trite comfort - for who can take comfort in a God who worked millennia ago in the lives of people we have never met? How do we even know their stories are true?
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Catalina and I completely understand these reservations. However, we believe that God has not left us with only his actions in the past. We believe we serve a living God who is active in the world today. With this in mind, we want to share with you the story of how God has worked in our lives as he has been faithful in his call to us and his provision for that to which he has called us. We pray that our story of God's work will be real to you and encourage you as you seek to follow him.

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