Up to something.

I love listening to the stories of those around me. Animated narratives from my boys before school starts, passerby prayers in the heat of the day, lively tales from Mobile Clinic journeys or Hope House kid antics amidst the crowds at dinner, heart-to-hearts in the glow of low light deep into the evening.

As I've listened to the stories of my friends and neighbours this week, a familiar thread has woven it's way back and forth and through. It's a phrase that ties all of the ups and downs, tears and triumphs into meaning.

God is up to something.

Well, of course He is. He always is. But it's not a truth I want to shrug my shoulders to. This week I've tried to pinpoint more specific ways I recognize Him for the stories He writes. In the different facets of our days, if we let Him take the pen, He unravels the mysteries of His grace, and gives us real-time glimpses into His love.

It's usually only in the answered prayers and triumphs that I turn around and recognize how intricately the Lord used both the struggles and satisfactions to bring me through. But what I am realizing through the daily lives of myself and my neighbours is that when all the the pieces fall apart, and far before our awareness takes hold, God is still up to something.

And so even in the evening tremor, even in the prison sentence, even in orphaned twins. He is up to something. May we have a faith like David to be strong, take heart, and wait for the Lord (Psalm 27:14).

We may never fathom the depth to which He is at work on this side of heaven, but someday I believe we will. Until then, it's my prayer that you too may be encouraged wherever you find yourself today. Know that amidst the highs and lows that the Author is at work, writing a story of beauty and redemption all the way to our Promised land.