For those of you that might be new to my blog, I’m not normal!  Today I am writing from one of my all time favorite coffee shops The Mocha Monkey.   What makes it a great coffee shop?  Good question, I guess it is good coffee, a friendly atmosphere, and the familiar.

The familiar is a comfort.  In a world of high speed change, in great mobility, and fast paced everything, it is nice to spend a little time in the familiar.  Which got me thinking or should I say pondering, what else in my life would I consider familiar?  Last night I sat with a group of couples that I have known for years, and to whom I have grown close.  We are all about the same age, our kids when through school together, we all raised our kids in the same church.  They are familiar.  There is something very comfortable of talking with them.

Familiar – I long for it at times.  I live in a new home, (less than 2 years) in a new community, with a new day job (pencil salesman), and launching a new ministry.  So I rejoice in my family – my familiar, my wife of 27 years, attending the Timberwolves with my 22 year old and an evening phone call from my 19 year old political junkie.

My Familiar Faith – But more than anything I treasure my familiar Lord.  The unchanging God who has been walking with me as long as I can remember, even when I was unaware of it. The familiar hymns of my youth sung in worship, the familiar praise choruses I sang with my kids for years.  His familiar Word speaks volumes to me.  It is a comfort for me to read words that I have turned to for years.

So here I sit in my familiar Coffee Shop, with my familiar Bible and find a familiar comfort.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?” Isaiah 40:21  

Since the earth was formed…. that’s a long time. Our God is a God of the familiar.  When we turn to Him we recognize Him, His voice is familiar.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.”  Isaiah 40:28

He will not grow weary…. I am familiar with weariness and love a God who never suffers from it!

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like Eagles; they will run and not grow weary.  they will walk and not be faint.”  Isaiah 40:29-31

These are perhaps the most familiar words of the Bible to me.  They are words I turn to over and over, they are words I have called my favorite for years. What is familiar in your life?  What do you hang on to, and return to for that comfortable feeling of familiarity?

If your life is feeling rushed, or changing, if you are feeling like you are always on the edge of a steep learning curve, then take some time and spend sometime with the familiar.  Spend some time with the familiar and faithful God.

In the comments below share your familiar story.  What to you feels familiar?  What is your familiar Bible Verse?

Well its time for me to leave my familiar coffee shop and head off to a meeting at…. a new Coffee shop I have never been to!

<>< Craig