God Is With Us

Tomorrow. Next week. 2024. The future.

Uncertain. Unknown. Unsettling.

Who can know what tomorrow will bring? Who can know what lies in store in 2024?

You wonder, you ponder, you predict what may come—the good, the bad, the in between. You try to prepare, you set your goals, your faith rises, hope soaring high.

But what if?

What if this or that happens? What if your dreaded fears become reality? What if the bad becomes the ugly, the ugly becomes worse, the worst becomes the new normal? What if, what if, what if?

Dwelling on the unknown produces anxiety. Dwelling on the all-knowing One produces peace.

God is with you in the unknown.

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

Matthew 1:23 KJV

Immanuel—God with us.

With: accompanied by, in the company of, support, possessing something.

In other words, with describes a state of being.

God is with us. God is. Is—another state of being verb. Together, “God is with us” implies the omnipresence of God.

Yes, He was there from the beginning. Yes, He’s with you now. And, yes, He’s with you already in 2024 in your deepest, scariest unknowns.

He’s there in every place and every trial, lonely moment, sorrow, and difficult decision in every point in time all at once. Before you even arrive at a certain moment in time, He’s already there. He goes before you.

“And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”

Deuteronomy 31:8 KJV

And we know that nothing catches Him by surprise, though we know not the future. Our understanding is limited, our knowledge finite. It is only through trusting in the One with infinite knowledge and who is always with us that we can step into the unknown with confidence and peace.

God is with us. God is faithful. God is.

As we close out 2023 and prepare for a new year, may we remember that God is with us already in everything we may face. And may we turn our worst “what if” scenarios into our best declarations of faith.

What if I get that job? What if I pass that test? What if God heals me? What if God restores my family? What if I’m delivered? What if God shows up like He never has before?

Follow and put your trust in the One who makes all things new and who turns bad situations around for your good. The same God who delivered, healed, and restored in the biblical age performs those same miracles today.

With describes a state of being, and we know that God never changes.

Our unchanging, holy, miracle-working God is with us right now, tomorrow, next year—always.