No matter the day or the offering, You are enough.

By: Laura Albert

The desert and canyon country is amazing! It is a place of extremes and opposites. There are large awe inspiring walls and formations towering in front of you, and up and around you. There are dry, seeming desolate places, and lush hanging gardens that are full of life!

It is one of the reasons why I first fell in love with the Southwest. The epic grand scale beauties and the small little details, in this world of opposites, draw me into this wildness and closer into the glory of God’s heart.

Last year, I went on SROM’s Wilderness Ministry Professionals Course for professional development trip! I went into the canyon country of Utah unsure of what God would develop in me there.

Prior to going, I had felt like an emotional hot mess and inadequate. I felt ineffective in what God had called me to do and was honestly doubting whether I was in the right place. At one point I cried out, “God, why me? I’m no good at this!” The voices of my past and the voice of the enemy kept coming at me from all sides before I even stepped into the van to travel to the trailhead.

You are chosen 

But on Day 2 of fourteen days in the wilderness, God gave me the above passage from Isaiah (I looked back into my journal to be sure…) on which to ruminate, even before I could fully digest it. “But for now, dear servant Jacob [ Laura], listen – yes, you Israel [Laura], my personal choice,” Isaiah 44:1 (MSG).

He was showing me that contrary to the good, the bad, and ugly that I had done before as a leader, I am His personal choice.

That no matter what I bring that day, I am enough. I was chosen for this.

I was handpicked by God for this time, this moment and this purpose. There were days that I felt too weak and unable to hike with the load on my back. He knew that, and kept speaking into me, step-by-step, that I am His personal choice.

I noticed that day-after-day, no matter how strong or how weak or however I felt, I came before the Lord to give what I had each and every day. Because what I have to give to Him is an act of worship. Because each day and each step I give is enough for God. I am giving Him my best in that moment, in that day, and it is enough.

On those days when I felt the weakest, and needed help from my teammates, even that dear friends, was an offering to God. And truth be told, every offering that I give Him every day, whatever I had that day, was enough. I was reminded that God is good, and He will take the offering I give Him each day in each moment, and multiply it above and beyond what I can imagine.

Even beyond that, He spoke to me from Isaiah that I am worthy to be a leader. I was designed that way in the womb! I am worthy because of Jesus, who chose me for such a time as this. To lead, to give of myself, and to be used by the Father for His purposes and His glory here on earth.

So. Are. You.

You are covered in the blood of Jesus. You are God’s personal choice to be the wineskin of heaven to “pour out water on the thirsty ground,” for you are the “streams coursing through the parched earth” that God is sending into the dry lands to bring that living water to the thirsty hearts who long for the life and freedom that Jesus brings.

So, as God says, “Don’t be afraid, dear servant Jacob [insert your name], Jeshurun, the one I chose” (Jeshurun means “Upright One” in Hebrew).

Don’t be afraid. You were not only created for a time and place such as this, but you were chosen to be here. You are worthy to be here. It has always a part of God’s plan that you are here today, reading this story, journeying with the amazing people in your communities and places that God made.

What you bring to this day, to this moment, is enough. Because you have first brought it as an offering to God. He will multiply what you bring to the table to quench the hunger and thirst of those longing for the life that Jesus brings.

For He is good, and He tells of this promise in the last verse: “For I will pour water on the thirsty ground and send streams coursing through the parched earth. I will pour out my Spirit into your descendants and my blessing on your children.”

Laura Albert

Laura has been full time with SROM since February of 2017. In addition to writing, she and her dog Lily enjoy going on adventures and pushing the limits of “the norm” in their daily rhythms. Most recently that includes the building of their own Tiny House on wheels this summer.

To learn more about about Laura, click here.