Day 7: Alpha

“I am the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come – the Almighty One.” Revelation 1:8

A few weeks ago, I walked into my weekly counseling session feeling heavy and burdened around the idea of change and making life decisions that could bring potential pain or great joy. Being in my late 20s and removing my rose colored glasses to the realities, good and the difficult, of life, I can struggle to accept that some dreams die, plans change, and curveballs are thrown in life. I am often thinking of what my future could look like, frozen in fear and doubt-filled thoughts cluttering my mind with questions like Scott Erickson, “Who cares? Has the Divine been paying attention to what’s going on [in my life], with me here, with [me] up until now?”

Processing with my counselor that day, we talked about the idea of being grounded emotionally and mentally and spiritually. For me, at times I can get lost in the spiral of the fear of the unknown and lose sight of that truth feeling ungrounded. I believe a trait of a spiritually grounded person is trusting the Divine, even if we cannot make sense of sovereignty and free will. We can look back at scripture and see promises fulfilled, like the promise of Jesus and his purpose on earth but also how circumstances have worked out in our own lives, to help remind us that there is a Creator that deeply cares about the details of our lives.

The incarnation of Christ is a gift to help us become more grounded and trusting of God. We can examine the life of Jesus to see what practices he used in his life to be grounded, like time in prayer, community with others, and exercising his gifts so that others may experience Love. In this season of Advent, my hope is that we may all grow to become more grounded in God and trust that our lives do matter, even when we are unsure of outcomes, and have resilience in all seasons of life.

—Emily Pearce