By Julie Greenhalgh, Life Group leader, Jubilee Church Wirral

Way Maker
Miracle Worker
Promise Keeper
Light In The Darkness

These words are branded in my mind (and printed on the back of my phone case!) I repeat them over and over, sometimes in my head and other times out loud; very loud!

We sang this song (Way maker – originally by Nigerian gospel singer Sinach) recently in church and it speaks to me so clearly of God’s love for me, that no matter what obstacles I meet in my every day life, there will never be anything which stops me walking on the path that God has planned for me.

I make mistakes, lots of mistakes! Don’t we all? But since meeting with God in my mid 20s I’ve learned that even when I get it wrong He never does. His plans for me won’t be derailed, they may be diverted and sometimes I may even complete a total side wheelie and possibly lift from the tracks ever so slightly but I know that God will always bring me back. I regularly pray that God will align my heart with His will for me because it’s so important to me to be on the same page as Him!

In the very early days of being a Christian my life took a huge ‘falling off a cliff’ tumble and I couldn’t see a way through. Everything that I relied on here on earth had gone and the life I thought was all set out in front of me melted away.

I remember finding comfort in stories of people who were seemingly lost but for whom God clearly made a way. Sometimes these examples were ‘smack you round the head’ obvious; ‘Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.’ (Exodus 14:22) This amazing act followed a long period of waiting and suffering as the Israelites tried to escape captivity in Egypt.

God made a way for Daniel in the lion’s den: ‘My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me’ (Daniel 6:22)

And then we have Jonah, who really didn’t want to go God’s way and who, in fact, went in the opposite direction.  ‘But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.’ (Jonah 1:4) God’s plans for the people of Nineveh were not derailed!

Sometimes the journeys are long and the waiting is hard. David waited more than 20 years to become King over all of Israel and similarly Joseph waited more than 20 years from when he was sold into slavery until he led Egypt out of famine and was reunited with the brothers who had sold him.

When Andrew and I felt called onto the mission field by God it was over two years before we headed to Zambia. The wait was painfully slow sometimes. But God made a way. When we eventually applied for our work permit it was granted in under 24 hours, the shortest time our host had ever heard of!

And my ‘falling off a cliff tumble’? Well, as you can imagine God made a way, in fact He ploughed a way and the path He put me on was far better than any I could have imagined for myself! He never once lost sight of where He wanted me and as I stayed close to Him I couldn’t go wrong.

I still have areas and people in my life that I have been praying about for years now and I can’t say I don’t get impatient in the wait! I also have situations where God makes a way miraculously quickly. Through it all I never lose hope; when I am broken and completely depleted of energy I cling onto the fact that my heavenly father never grows weary and He never stops working for me.

I know my God is a Way Maker, He is a Miracle Worker, He keeps His promises and He is the light in the darkness!

Julie Greenhalgh, Life Group leader, Jubilee Church Wirral