Always and in all ways

I received a text from a sweet friend early this morning:  "Doing SO well.  God is good!!!!!  ALL the time!!!!!!"
I smiled when I read it, this young mom with five small children who literally talks in exclamation points.

It so happens that the last few days, I have been contemplating the scope of what "all" means.  In church on Sunday, we sang a worship chorus by Kristian Stanfill, his song Always.  The songs of a Sunday service typically follow me through the week like an embedded soundtrack.  But even while we were still singing, I kept looking at the word "always," and seeing it also as "all ways."  God is my refuge and strength always and in all ways.

As one who plays with words everyday, I stand amazed at the depth of meaning even in the simplest of words that we take for granted.  And so, I looked up in the dictionary the word "always." The definition expanded my appreciation of who God is -- at all times, constantly, ever, continually, of going on without interruption.  The definition for "all" brought even more -- the whole quantity, as much as possible, nothing but, wholly, entirely, completely, and my favorite "all in."

In the Bible, there are twelve different Hebrew or Greek words for "always."  Read them slowly and think about what God means by "always:"  pre-eminence, perpetuity, for an indefinite time, continually, all the days, through all time, ever, each time, in every season, in every way, in all time, always.

God.  Always.  And in all ways.

His faithfulness.
His love.
His grace.

(You can listen to the song by clicking on the Always link in the second paragraph.)