Alpha and Omega - Names of Christ Advent Series

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Revelation 22:13 We need to meditate on the truth of God's Word. Breathe in and breathe out deeply as you think about each phrase of the inspired Word of God. “I am the Alpha and Omega"... breathe"the first and the last"...breathe..."the beginning and the end.”Say this three times. Take a deep breath in each time you repeat.Why did God want to describe Himself this way to the Apostle John? In the book of Revelation, Jesus Christ reveals that He is the Alpha and the Omega.  Alpha is the first letter of the greek alphabet and Omega is the last which is why He repeats Himself as the beginning and the end. God breathed out the scripture for us. He created the heavens and the earth, and He will be there in the end when Jesus Christ comes back. This includes Him in between. This took me years to understand then it took me a few more years to embrace it and fully believe it.  Though I confidently know who God is in my life and what He is capable of doing; but to comprehend that He was there in my suffering was a different story for me.  Starting at age twelve symptoms of depression crept upon me. As years passed the season of me “just being in a bad mood” turned to a severity of not wanting to cope with life.  The unfortunate thing is that no one in my family could help me. Not that they didn't want to. I know my parents deeply desired for their daughter to live in excellence, be driven, outgoing, and much more. I also know my grandparents were concerned at times that my attitude of not wanting to be near people was no longer a phase but now a plague on my life. I do not blame one person, and I don't think that people did not want better for me. But the help could not come because the depression was not spoken of. Depression was treated as though it a self-induced issue.  There was no compassion to the words, “ My head hurts from all the thoughts that won't stop.” Just a polite response, “Then change your way of thinking.”  You see, when I feel a strike of depression or anxiety coming upon, my mind will go in a million different ways. Not one single way is in a positive direction. Each one is leading all to the same destination….. Turmoil.  Some days I feel so weakened by the way my mind just explodes to go into the pity party of “Who am I, what is my purpose, do they love me?” that my lips can not even say, “Lord help me.” Instead I feel my heart, the depth of my stomach, and my mind just fall into what feels like a pit.  Those are the moments, I wonder where is my inbetween. Where is my God? I need Him right now in this middle! Do I know He is there, yes, absolutely! My whimpering of where is He, is not so much of doubt or little faith but instead of: “God, please help me believe this in between is still for your glory. Lord, help me see that this in between time of my life is just my inbetween, that it is not my identity.” It's so easy to find comfort in knowing that God is the beginning. He created the Heavens and the earth and that He is the end. He will be there on our lasts days and receive us into heaven with open arms. But are we confident that God is there in between the seasons? Do we see him in the trials and tribulations that we bear or through our children that will one day have to endure their own sufferings? Do we trust that God will be with them and the generations after?  As Christians, our faith does not only stand on knowing God is the beginning and the end but that He is the inbetween. He is the only God. He is the almighty God that gives to those that seek Him.  My personal suffering of depression may sometimes take me to a place of feeling like God is not there at that moment but my spirit always brings back the remembrance of His word: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”  Revelation 1:8 He is the one who was there, is there, and who is to come.  Whatever your circumstance is that sometimes lead you to feel like God is not there pushing you through, cheering you on, or embracing you through the mess, my hope is that you repeat the words: “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end” And know that from a beginning to the end, there is a fulfillment of the inbetween. It is the Alpha and Omega. He is there at the beginning of our battles, and He's there at the end of our battles. Loving God is not about having a easier life, it is about not doing it alone.  [bctt tweet="Loving God is not about having a easier life, it is about not doing it alone. -Carmen Brown " username="christcentermom"] 

About the Author

 Carmen Brown is the creator of Married by His Grace Blog and the ‘By His Grace Bloggers’ Facebook group. She writes with a desire to touch wives and mothers with the word of God. She is a firm believer that marriage and parenthood is a ministry and with His grace we can do great things. You can connect with Carmen on her blog or on Facebook.