I don’t know if you’re like me, but I pick up things to worry about as if collecting rocks. The load gets heavier and heavier, until the weight reaches critical mass. And before you know it, I’m wide awake in bed at night—worried sick.

A toxic pattern, to be sure.

I tell God I’m sorry and lay each rock of concern at His feet. He usually says,

“Dear Susan…Remember Who I am.”

For several years now, I keep seeing the number 722 in countless ways. I saw it on my coffee pot clock not 10 minutes ago. See previous post about it. I believe it’s a reference to Daniel’s vision in 7:21-22.

 21 “I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them 22 until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.”

Don’t you love the word—until?

It signals a great shift. The mystery is—did it happen already with the death and resurrection of Christ? Or could we be in the throes of it at present? Or maybe it’s still future? I wonder. At the moment, many of God’s people are severely embattled and even targeted. I’m no authority on Scripture. But I see this number every few days. God has my attention.

With that in mind, I found myself gathering stones again…Israel under attack, beheadings, a commercial airline shot down, race riots in Missouri, health issues, rising national debt, addictions, deaths, divorces, suicides—need I go on? Despair is everywhere.

Lord, when will the “time arrive”? Is this just the beginning of the days of sorrow? Will the tribulation be much worse?

My thoughts easily spiral.

So one day when I was swept into the vortex of worry, I saw eights and nines in different combinations: 8899 and 889. I searched it out in Scripture. Was it random, or precisely what I needed to hear?Continue reading