“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”
Deuteronomy 33:27
“Falling off a cliff” is an expression we use to describe what it feels like when a dramatic event abruptly and dramatically changes our lives. When Julie, Debbie, Holly and I gathered with the teen girls on Wednesday night, March 11, 2020, I didn’t know that in the hours and days ahead, life would feel that way.
Earlier in the week, as I had thought about what to share with the girls, I felt very compelled to revisit what I had shared the week before on prayer and to focus on the first letter of the acrostic.
P = Praise God for Who He is
R = Remember What God has Done In the Past
A = Ask God for your Needs
Y = Yield to God’s Answer
Along with the strong leading to talk about God’s attributes that night, I also felt I should print the lesson so the girls would have a copy. Below is the handout I gave them.
- God is All Powerful (Omnipotent)
Psalm 147:4-5 “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.”
Ephesians 3:20 “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”
- God Knows Everything (Omniscient)
Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”
Luke 12:7 “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows”
- God is Everywhere (Omnipresent)
Psalm 139:7-10 “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.”
Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
- God is Loving and Good (Omnibenevolent)
Psalm 107:1 “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”
Psalm 86:5 “For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.”
Romans 8:37-39 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,Or ‘nor heavenly rulers’ neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
When we gathered for the lesson on that fateful night, the girls took turns reading the verses and there was a good discussion about God’s attributes on the handout and other attributes He has as well. Debbie led the girls in sharing their “highs and lows” of the week, we had a time of prayer, there were refreshments and then the evening was over.
When we got home, there was breaking news. The NBA had canceled its season. Governor DeWine was closing the schools. Life as we knew it was over. In the strange days ahead, I kept the extra handouts in my Bible to remind me to pray for the girls and to remind me that the Lord knew what we all needed that night: an assurance that even when it feels like everything around us is falling apart, our all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, always-loving Heavenly Father never, ever fails.