I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Therefore let everyone who is godly
    offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
    they shall not reach him.
You are a hiding place for me;
    you preserve me from trouble;
    you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

Psalm 32:5-7

2017’s gift: Repentance. “Coincidently” my own journey began during the 500 year celebration of the Reformation and Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses that began, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ (Matthew 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

Mercifully, my year of repentance is unlike any I could have imagined. In addition to (or underneath?) consciously committed sins of disobedience against my Father are the unconsciously invited sinful desires of the heart that distrusts His Fatherhood: fear of man, pride, envy, and jealousy –just to name a few.

Ray Ortland challenges, “What if the pent-up anguish of long-unconfessed sins gushes out in repentance before God and one another? We too will be “surrounded with shouts of deliverance,” and the blessing we are experiencing now will seem a mere prelude to the mighty outpouring God will send down."[1]

Intertwined and instrumental to this year of “gushing” repentance is a year of gut-wrenching losses. It is when sorrow and sadness surround that shouts of deliverance are powerful and profound.

May the events of 2018 that will surround you and me--because He is our refuge--be the realities through which we will experience the mighty outpouring of our Father.

[1] Orltand, R. (2017, December 4) “The Blessings We Dread” [TGC] Retreived from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/ray-ortlund/the-blessing-we-dread/

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