I should begin each blog with a disclaimer:

I have no original thoughts of my own.  I am the product of all I have read and heard and the people who have affected me in small or huge ways.

Even that statement is not original with me.  All I do is rearrange thoughts into my own words and sentence structures.  As the wisest man once said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”

Today’s thoughts come from Joni Eareckson Tada and one of her many books, Glorious Intruder, God’s Presence in Life’s Chaos.  And don’t we all have our own chaos.  Her words fall on my heart like flower petals, whispering of the remnants of Christmas past and gently calling me, challenging me into the new year.  Enjoy Joni’s words.

God is an intruder.

He encroaches, presumes, invades, and infringes.  He crashes the party.  Tears aside curtains. Throws open locked doors.  Hits the light switch in a dark room.  God pulls the fire alarm in stuffy, sacrosanct hallways . . . 

God intruded the womb of a virgin.  He stormed satan’s kingdom on a Christmas night in Bethlehem. He talked out of turn in Judah and Galilee with words that”no man spoke before.”  He crashed the temple courtyards, overturning tables and kicking commerce out the door with a strong arm and whip of cords.

God overstepped the realm of death itself, stealing its banner and crushing its lord.  And in the Most Holy Place of the temple, He audaciously tore the veil from top to bottom.

God is a glorious intruder in my life, my thoughts, my pain, sorrow, and brokenness.

The Spirit of the Lord even invades me, taking up residence in my very body.  His Word is a razor-edged sword, piercing my complacency and dividing my soul and spirit.  He boldly intrudes into my sin, brashly calling it what it is, challenging me to leave it behind. . . . 

God, an intruder?  From His perspective, never.  From our point of view?  It happens all the time. Whether He encroaches with a gentle, subtle reminder or in a sudden, devastating judgment . . . 

God intrudes in glorious and myriad ways.”

He intruded upon my life so many years ago.  I knew virtually nothing about theology or doctrine.  I only knew there was this Jesus who loved me enough to die for me and I wanted Him.

God intruded in ways gloriously and painfully but always with His perfect will in mind to accomplish a greater purpose.

At the end of a year, I look back.  I review and remember.  I wonder at the grace that brought me to this day in 2014.  It has been no accident but perfectly thought out from eternity.

At the beginning of a new year, I look toward the future wondering what this next year will bring.  Sweet William and I move forward into 2015, and somehow I don’t fear the tomorrows for I know Who holds all of them in His hand.   This hand holds the deep places of the earth.  It formed man from dust and breathed life into him.  It reached from Heaven to earth and stretched out to die.  It still bears the nail prints.  It is strong enough to carry us into the new year with whatever comes with it.

The door to 2015 will soon open wide.  We have no choice but to go through it into the unexplored.  The path marked out for us may not always be clear but mercy and truth will be there to assure us safe passage to the end of it.

Take His hand and walk boldly into the unknown.