THE EVERLASTING ARMS

God will never refuse a sincere heart that comes back to Him to rebuild an area of his spiritual life that has been broken down! I want to share a promise with you. Believe it. Meditate on it. Hold it tight and oh-so-close to your heart. Promises are love letters from God, destined for you, written with you in mind on the pages of His faithfulness with the ink of His blood offered for you.

“There is none like our God who rides the heaven to help you and in His excellency on the clouds. The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33:26-27).

When you have made your worst mistakes and the storms of life are raging; when you are so ashamed of yourself you want to disappear; when you have fallen so low and you look down, underneath it all you will always find the everlasting arms. When you give up on yourself and your closest friends can’t believe what you’ve done; when everyone has left you and you can’t even look up, underneath the entire mess you will find His everlasting arms. When it takes everything you have just to pick up the first and smallest stone to rebuild your altar, and your attempt at a comeback with God and His calling on your life seems so futile, ridiculous and really hopeless, you will always hear His voice speak these words to you and for you, “A bruised reed He will not throw away and a smoking flax He will not quench. He will not fail, nor be discouraged till He has established His kingdom.” (Isa 42:3-4).

When our faith is strong and our altar is straight, and we are standing tall before God with all the passion of our commitment, and with our eyes looking high to the heaven, at such times it is not hard to believe that His arms can carry us. We experience moments of grace and amazing answers to prayer, and His presence is so near and so real. We accomplish exploits that surprise us and fill us with wonder and passionate worship. His face is so near we feel we could just touch Him; His word is sweet and moves us.

Claude Houde is the lead pastor of Eglise Nouvelle Vie (New Life Church) in Montreal, Canada. Under his leadership New Life Church has grown from a handful of people to more than 3500 in a part of Canada with few successful Protestant churches.