I am in awe of how sovereign our God is. He is orchestrating the perfect redemption of this world. I was re-reading some of my old sermon notes and I came across one sermon from Slate that was encouraging to me. Our story as Christians is not over. It looks forward. It is working for the redemption of His kingdom.

I have been reading Isaiah through my quiet time. I have always shied away from the Old Testament because it lacks the bluntness of the New Testament. At the beginning of summer break, the Lord blessed me with a a sweet friend who asked me if I would like to go through a book of the Bible together. God-stop. I had been worried about my accountability and growth this summer because last summer was a spiritually dry time. It was disappointing after all I had learned during the first year of college. Together, we decided to go through Isaiah. God-stop. I wouldn't have gone through this book if I did not go through it with my dear friend. We decided to read 6 chapters a week and then go through and discuss it. On Sunday, I read the passage of Isaiah 25:8-9 which states, "he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people's disgrace form all the earth. The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.'" I then sent this verse to a family that has been on my heart in hopes of encouraging. Then, in church this passage was part of the passage on which our pastor spoke. "'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' ' Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?'" This is found in 1 Corinthians 15: 54b-55. So many things and events had to line up in order for that to line up. How crazy is that?