Motto
Have you ever heard, sung, watched, experienced something that you’ve done dozens, maybe hundreds, of times before, but for some reason, it suddenly became drastically different? It happened to me...
A few months before our big move, I was singing a song I’ve sung for years...
So faithful. So constant.
So loving and so true.
So powerful in all You do.
You fill me. You see me.
You know my every move
and You love for me to sing to You.
I know that You are for me.
I know that You are for me.
I know that You will never,
forsake me in my weaknesses.
~You Are For Me, by Kari Jobe
For some (obvious) reason, the line “you know my every move” struck me so differently. I had always thought this line was a paraphrase of Psalm 139:2....”you know when I sit, you know when I rise...”, and it is, undoubtedly. But my thoughts instantly connected to God’s knowledge of my daily habits to his awareness of our upcoming move. I know it sounds silly. We wouldn’t have been moving to Connecticut without the leading of the Holy Spirit, so why wouldn’t he have deep, intimate knowledge of the situation...?
Despite this obvious point now becoming a life-changing moment for me, I found a peace knowing that God was aware. He knew we were de-cluttering everything we could, packing everything we owned, and leaving everything we knew. Just knowing that God knows produced peace. The kind of peace that words could not describe and the only way I could respond was to be silent, completely silent.
*Fast forward to yesterday*
After my workout, I grabbed a free copy of a calendar sitting on a table on my way out of the gym, thinking it would be nice to flip through the picturesque moments of New England. I walked in the kitchen door at home, tossed it on the counter and went on with my day. Later in the evening, I opened it to browse and I was struck by what I found on the inside of the front cover. Each New England states’ facts were listed. Get this:
Connecticut’s State Motto, as represented on the state flag, is : Qui Transtulit Sustine. Translation, please: “He who transplanted continues to sustain”.
Sounds like something else I’ve read before. “I will never leave you or forsake you...” (Joshua 1:5) or maybe, perhaps the scripture that historians believe the motto was derived from, Psalm 80; “You brought us out of Egypt like a grapevine and transplanted us into your land. You cleared the ground for us, and we took root and filled the land. (vs.8-9)
Does this strike you as odd as it strikes me? Connecticut, the state with the lowest (demographically-proven) percentage of believers, has a statement of God’s sustaining power as their motto. Flying outside of every public school and university, fire house, government building, police station and community center is a flag that says “God brought us here and will always take care of us” (my paraphrase).
I wonder how many Connecticuties are even aware of who sustains their breath each morning, who sustains the sun and moon as they rise and set each day, who sustains their heart each of the 100,000 times it beats a day? Here, as everywhere, people trust in themselves, their paychecks, their positions, their brains and brawn. Our independent spirit has cause our dependence on the One who Sustains to shrivel and become forgotten.
Can I state the obvious again? God brought us here, transplanted our roots and will caused them to dig deeply into the ground and fill the land.
God, will you remind us of your sustaining blessings each day? Cause us to depend on you more and allow us to impact “the land” around us as our roots grow deeply in this ground. Grasp the attention of those around me...they walk and drive past a statement of your sustaining blessings everyday, may it grab them at their core.... ~Amen.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/graphics/pew-religion-08/flash.htm
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