A tough day... But God

This morning I woke up in a funk. I'd like to say I had lots of excuses for my crummy mood--hurt feelings, unfair treatment, bad back, cold damp weather... blah blah blah. Even as I started to enumerate the reasons, they fell absolutely flat. So minor and petty, really, so self-absorbed, so self-pitying. Forgive me Lord. Funny, isn't it, how we often tend to enjoy nursing our feelings of frustration or disappointment or sadness? What starts out as a fairly small blow to our psyche slowly transforms into the Godzilla of emotional hurts. We lose perspective. We lose joy. We lose gratitude. And we shrink into a teeny little bundle of unattractive bitterness and irritability. Sometimes it takes days to overcome our self-imposed prison of misery and self-absorption.

Well, I was headed in that direction, and I got one of those "But God..." moments. You know what I mean, don't you? Those are some of my favorite verses in all the Bible, all those "But God" treasures. Just a couple to remind us: "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." (Joseph in Gen. 50:20) Or "But God demonstrated His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8) Or "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my potion forever." (Ps. 73:26) The Scriptures are replete with those wonderful nuggets, reminding us that things may look bad, "But God" is our Helper, Defender, Redeemer, Enabler, Sustainer and on and on.

Back to my point: God graciously intervened with a "but God" moment this morning. I sat down for my quiet time and began with a little devotional book by David Jeremiah, and it was if he had written the words just for me, just for today. God likes to do stuff like that, doesn't He? Here were the opening words: "Some days are harder than others, and perhaps this is one of them for you. Life is full of frustrations, and we can grow mighty weary with financial pressures, family problems, church misunderstandings, and workplace conflicts. It sometimes seems like we're losing our minds." O boy, David had me nailed. He went on: "But God isn't losing His! Remember that nothing revokes His faithfulness. His promises to us are irreversible, unalterable, firm and fixed. There are conditions to be met, of course, but outer circumstances must bend, in His time, to the purposes and promises of God in our lives."

O mercy, I might as well keep quoting it: "Dietrich Bonhoeffer [one of my very favorites] once said, 'God does not give us everything we need, but He does fulfill His promises... leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.' The Lord your God will bless you just as He has promised in His Word.

His promises are sure. His blessings are great. His grace is sufficient. His presence is near. His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. Cheer up! It's not as bad as it seems." And then to top it all off (he had me at "Some days are harder than others"), Jeremiah quotes Corrie ten Boom: "Let God's promises shine on your problems."

So that's the whole devotion! I was so convicted of my utter failure to measure my little petty grievances against the Lord Almighty! Of my selfishness and refusal to take my troubles to my Savior and ask Him to forgive and cleanse and restore and renew me. As Nancy Leigh Demoss has said, "The fact that I feel bad isn't necessarily wrong or sinful. There may be circumstances that really did make me feel bad. What's sinful is when I let those emotions cause me to start to think things that aren't true, and I nurture those thoughts and then begin to act based on them." It's the Word of God, the Truth, that needs to sanctify our minds and emotions. And when, by an act of the will, even when we really don't feel like it, we turn to God and His Truth, rather than continuing to indulge in our pity-party, then He will be faithful to change us and encourage us and teach us and, praise God, forgive us and renew us.

Maybe this doesn't apply to anybody else in the world, but if you are having a tough day, be encouraged in God's presence, His promises, His power, His peace. I pray you will have a "but God" moment and when you do, give Him your thanks and give Him the glory. To our Almighty Lord who delights in declaring "But God" be all the glory.

A Lesson from my Dog, Part II

If I were a person of at least average intelligence, I would be able to download a photograph I just took of our dog, Moses, with a look of intense, focused attentiveness on his face. Let me describe the scene: two of our boys are eating scrambled eggs for breakfast (one of the few things I can cook really well). Eggs--of any form whatsoever--happen to be Moses' favorite food. Now mind you, this is not saying much since he will eat virtually any food under the sun except, we have learned, raw garlic still in the bulb covered with that annoying skin. I guess he is concerned about his breath--I told you he is a wonderful, thoughtful dog. At any rate, whenever anyone in the house is eating anything, Moses rushes to the scene of the action, prepared like a canine boy scout, for any and all action. If even the tiniest morsel happens to drop to the floor, he is on it in a microsecond. It sure has helped with our sweeping the kitchen floor. But, boy, when I break out the eggs, Moses is especially excited and attentive.

Back to the photograph: the boys are eating eggs at the counter, and Moses stares at them with laser-like focus, ears pointed straight up, head raised and alert, eyes zeroed in on every movement of their forks. If you knew Moses, you would be especially impressed, because the other 99% of his day is spent lounging... or resting... well, actually sleeping, often with a thunderous snore. But bring out the food--especially the eggs-- and he is so totally on it.

As I snapped his picture, though, I couldn't help asking myself, is that my attitude with the Lord and His Word? Do I approach the Lord and time spent in His supernatural spiritual food--the Bible--with the same focus and attentiveness, desperate and excited to glean whatever He has to say to me that day?

So many verses speak of the beauty and infinite value of God's Word. Ps.119:105 tells us "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to for path." Hebrews 4:12 declares: "For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

One of my favorites on this topic, Jeremiah 15:16 tells us that "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Lord, God of hosts." Does that reflect my attitude towards God's Word? Daily reading and eating it--attentive, focused, joyful, expectant? God wants to speak to us today. He has words of love, comfort, conviction, guidance, wisdom, hope, warning, and strength... just for you, just for me, just what He wants us to hear and understand for today. Are we too busy? too preoccupied? too overwhelmed? too prideful?

Really?! The One who knows every hair on our head as well as our secret thoughts and our deepest insecurities and fears and our greatest needs--we are too busy or preoccupied for His supernatural words of help and enablement? How convicted I am that at times this reflects my essentially indifferent, foolish attitude towards His Word. I can sometimes read the Bible with a lackadaisical approach or perhaps with the air of "let's get this checked off my to do list." How terribly costly is such indifference! How much I miss when I fail to come before the throne with attentive wonder and eager expectancy that the Lord of the universe is speaking to me, right at that moment in time. Pretty incredible, when you consider it--frail, selfish, petulant, prideful little dust people have the infinite, omnipotent Creator and Sustainer and Redeemer speaking directly to each one of them.

Diedrich Bonhoeffer, the brilliant German theologian killed in a nazi concentration camp for conspiring against Hitler during World War II, wrote these words about God speaking through the Bible:

"First of all I will confess quite simply- I believe that the Bible alone is the answer to all our questions, and that we need only to ask repeatedly and a little humbly, in order to receive this answer. One cannot simply read the Bible, like other books. One must be prepared really to enquire of it. Only thus will it reveal itself. Only if we expect from it the ultimate answer, shall we receive it. This is because in the Bible God speaks to us. And one cannot simply think about God in one’s own strength, one has to enquire of him. Only if we seek him, will he answer us. Of course it is possible to read the Bible like any other book, that is to say from the point of view of textual criticism, etc.; there is nothing to be said against that. Only that is not the method which will reveal to us the heart of the Bible, but only the surface, just as we do not grasp the words of someone we love by taking them to bits, but by simply receiving them, so that for days they go on lingering in or minds, simply because they are the words of a person we love, and just as these words reveal more and more of the person who said them as we go on, like Mary, “pondering them in our heart,” so it will be with the words of the Bible. Only if we will venture to enter into the words of the Bible, as though in them this God were speaking to us who loves us and does not will to leave us alone with our questions, only then shall we learn to rejoice in the Bible…

If it is I who determine where God is to be found, then I shall always find a God who corresponds to me in some way, who is obliging, who is connected with my own nature. But if God determines where he is to be found, then it will be in a place which is not immediately pleasing to my nature and which will not be congenial to me. This place is the cross of Christ. And whoever would find him must go to the foot of the cross, as the Sermon on the Mount commands. This is not according to our nature at all; it is entirely contrary to it. But this is the message of the Bible, not only the New but also in the Old Testament….

And, I would like to tell you now quite personally: since I have learnt to read the Bible in this way- and this has not been so very long- it becomes every day more wonderful to me. I read it in the morning and the evening, often during the day as well, and every day I consider a text which I have chosen for the whole week, and try to sink deeply into it, so as to really hear what it is saying. I know that without this I could not live properly any longer."

That's a long quote, but such profound words. God longs to speak to us through His Word. Will we listen? Really listen? If my sweet old dog can exhibit such attentiveness and expectancy over some scrambled eggs, surely we can approach the eternal spiritual sustenance the Lord God longs to give each of us with equal fervor and hunger. He has spoken. He is speaking. He will speak. Come hungry and expectant to His banquet table! To God, our Sustenance, our Living Word, be the glory.

A Lesson from my Dog

Early this morning, our sweet old dog, Moses, and I went for a walk. Moses is teaching me a number of lessons, one of which is patience. When I say sweet "old" dog, I mean it. He has slowed down considerably over the past year. We used to run together, but we "graduated" to walking briskly about a year ago--frankly, we're both thankful since Moses and I have clearly aged out of the pounding and stress running puts on our bodies. But now our formerly brisk, semi-long walks have "graduated" to shorter and shorter veeeeeeeeery slow walks. You simply cannot imagine how many things there apparently are to smell on the greenway. Bushes, trees, branches, blades of grass, trash, and certain unmentionables left behind by other dogs, just to name a few. Unbelievable! And, apparently, the smells are so fascinating and scintillating that the thought of actually continuing to move and walk lose all appeal for Moses. Meanwhile, I am pulling (HARD) trying to get him to budge, so we can get some exercise, and, I'm embarrassed to say, sometimes growing irritated and impatient with our GLACIAL pace.

Even writing this convicts me of how this reflects my complete lack of patience and my inability to wait--in general--with a contented, peaceful heart. How often do I bustle through my day, oblivious to God's agenda or the people He puts in my path? And how frequently am I ungrateful for all the blessings strewn in my path, because I am on to bigger and better things (or so I suppose)? Lord forgive me!

You know, you can learn an awful lot from a dog. Yeah, yeah, you think, I've heard all about slowing down to smell the roses, but, gracious, isn't it sad how frequently we fail to do just that? And just think about what dogs are smelling! If they can enjoy smelling whatever disgusting thing it is they like to smell, how can we not slacken our frantic pace a bit to appreciate the dainty sliver of the new moon or the gentle sound of the wind in the pine trees or the raucous laughter of our teenager's carpool? Are we really too busy and rushed not to notice that exhausted grocery bagger or that lonely widow or that overwhelmed teacher? Surely I can meander a bit more in my day--even if it's only in my heart and my attitude--so that I can pause and thank the Lord for the bracing air of winter or the sound of a favorite song or the taste of a chewy bagel.

I may have mentioned it before, but one of my favorite quotes is from Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (don't ask me who that is--I read his quote in a book):

"Every time you feel in God's creatures something pleasing and attractive, do not let your attention be arrested by them alone, but, passing them by, transfer your thought to God and say: 'O my God, if Thy creations are so full of beauty, delight and joy, how infinitely more full of beauty, delight and joy art Thou Thyself, Creator of all!"

Amen! Any God who could create a black labrador, or really most any dog (but especially labs), must be pretty incredible, indeed! Or the mind that could conceive of giraffes and tigers and elephants and anteaters--can you imagine?! Or the beauty of gently falling snow or the haunting sound of hoot owls, or the majestic power of waterfalls. Just today, as Moses and I walked along, I looked up and saw the fingernail sliver of a new moon outlined by the bare branches of the trees, and I thought, such is my Creator Lord! I couldn't help but be reminded of the line from Shakespeare describing winter's tree branches, "bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang."

I've only touched on the lessons a dog can teach us (O, yes, there is more to be mined on this wonderful subject!), but for today, Lord, teach us to slow down and taste and see that the Lord is good" (Ps.34:8). We can't taste and see His goodness and greatness if we don't have hearts attuned to Him and slacken our pace--at least in our perspective and our attitude--to see Him reflected in His creatures and His creation.

I may still be pulling hard on Moses' leash, but I'll be praising God in my heart for the stout heart of a dog and the strength of an arm and the lushness of that alluring blade of grass! O, if a dog could be so loyal and loving, imagine the God who made the dog! "How infinitely more full of beauty, delight, and joy, art Thou Thyself Creator of all!" To our creative, good and great God, be all the glory.

A Lonely Woman

Early this morning, I was reading through my One Year Bible, and it was some tough sledding, I must say. I read about all the regulations for infectious skin diseases and mildew in houses and men with discharges. As I read, my attitude was less than stellar. Why on earth is all of this in here, I wondered. When will I get through all this? And, good grief, this is so gross! Not exactly a reverential approach to God's Word.

I read about the regulations for a woman's time of the month (she is impure for 7 days afterward and anyone who touches her is unclean for 7 days). And then I read these verses: "When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge... Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean... and anything she sits on will be unclean... Whoever touches them will be unclean..." (Leviticus 15:25-27) I couldn't help contemplating the terrible isolation and embarrassment of such a woman. She is unclean, virtually anything she touches is unclean, and any person who not only touches her but touches anything she has touched is unclean. How awful, how defective, how alone must such a woman feel?

And then it hit me. Such was the woman who fearfully but desperately touched the hem of Jesus' robe. Remember her? Jesus was busy, surrounded by huge crowds, and He was on His way to the home of the very important Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, to ultimately heal his young daughter. Surely He should have been a bit overwhelmed by the teeming horde surrounding Him and preoccupied by the critical task He was about to perform (which actually ended up being the raising of the young girl from the dead).

How could He not have been preoccupied or overwhelmed? Boy, we sure would have been. O, but not our Savior. He is never too busy, never too rushed, never too focused on something else more pressing, never too engrossed in His own agenda to fail to love and heal and encourage a seeking or hopeless heart.

And surely she knew hopelessness and desperation and loneliness. Luke 8 tells us she had suffered from "a discharge of blood for 12 years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone." (Lk 8:43) Think of it: 12 years of being unclean. 12 years of contaminating anything she sat upon or lay upon. 12 years of other people fearful to be even just in her general vicinity for fear of being made unclean. Did she have children or a husband? We don't know, but if she did, I'm betting they weren't ever in her presence. And since she spent all her living on doctors, it sounds like she might not have had any kind of family to help her or encourage her through her long, dark nightmare of loneliness and disgrace.

Have you ever experienced such piercing loneliness that you felt utterly bereft? Have you ever felt like such a failure or so disgraced or so alienated that you were overwhelmed with the sense of desperation or discouragement or defeat? I just cannot begin to imagine her loneliness and despair... but my Savior can. He, too, would experience agonizing loneliness and rejection and betrayal and shame when He bore your sins and my sins, on a lonely cross, located "outside the camp" at Calvary.

But back to this woman. We're told that "She came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment, and immediately the discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, 'Who was it that touched Me?' When all denied it, Peter said, 'Master, the crowds surround You and are pressing in on you!' But Jesus said, 'Someone touched Me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.' And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before Him, declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. And He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace." (Lk 8:44-48)

He is God. He knows all things, and yet He asked who had touched Him. I kept thinking about that. Why would He do that? I'm guessing it had nothing to do with Jesus not knowing who had touched Him. I'm thinking my Sovereign all-knowing Lord asked the question not for Himself but for that poor, lonely woman's sake. Look at her--trembling, fearful, hidden, and then for the first time in 12 years, she comes out into the open and declares that she has been healed. Healed! Whole for the first time for as long as she can remember. I wonder is she had forgotten what it was like to hear the sound of her voice speaking out loud to real people. To feel what it was like not to be a pariah, sneaking around, trying to make herself invisible.

You know, Jesus could have just allowed her to be healed by touching the hem of His garment and then letting her slink off. And that would have been pretty spectacular--to be healed of a terrible, mysterious illness that had isolated and impoverished her. But then, she wouldn't have heard the sound of His voice. Or seen the soft but piercing gaze of His eyes upon her--only upon her. Or heard Him, the Almighty Savior, call her "daughter." Or heard His commendation that "your faith has healed you." Or listened to the glorious, unforgettable words, "Go in peace" spoken by the only One in the world who could actually give her true and lasting peace.

And neither would we.

O what a Savior. O what grace and goodness and thoughtfulness.

You can bet she was never ever the same. She had been healed, but more importantly, she had been recognized and known and encouraged and loved by the Savior.

I don't know what you might be enduring right now. Perhaps you have lost a dearly beloved husband or wife or child. Perhaps you feel like a failure. Perhaps you are overwhelmed with discouragement or fear or futility. Will you, like this woman, come to the Savior? Will you take your loneliness or sorrow or hopelessness to Him and trust Him with your heart and your hurt? He may heal in some dramatic way. Or He may simply give you a sense of His presence and His power and His peace as never before in the midst of whatever you are enduring. We may not always understand His ways. But we can know Him and His incomparable love and His amazing grace and His supernatural peace.

Just like a lonely desperate woman on a dusty road in the midst of a teeming crowd over 2000 years ago.

He still heals. He still knows. He still comforts. He still encourages. He still loves. He is still the Lord of the lonely. And He still redeems and restores... one person at a time. To the gracious, loving, kind and powerful Savior, be all the glory.

Thank You Notes

The children just finished writing some thank you notes for Christmas presents. This is what my 10 year old wrote to one of his aunts and uncles: "Dear Britt and Alice, Thank you for the kite. It flys good. love, peter" (as I mentioned earlier, spelling is not our strong suit around here). Short and sweet. Or at least short.

He really did love the kite--it is a really cool giant hawk kite with a 6 foot wing span (is that too much information?)--but you would never know it from this rather half-hearted effort on the thank you note. Why, you ask, was this letter so, hmm, to-the-point? Well, my son was desperate to get out of the house and off to the golf course, but first, he had to finish his thank you notes. He was focused on marking this off his to do list and getting on to something more fun.

While we laughed at his note, I couldn't help but wonder, how often is that my attitude with the Lord? How much time do I spend thanking Him, really thanking Him, with a truly grateful heart, for who He is and all He has done for me? Especially when I have a busy day, do I completely miss the manifold blessings He has sent my way that day? Do I thank Him for the incredible joy of His gift of salvation or am I too preoccupied with all I think I have to do that day? Do I pause to rejoice in His goodness, His grace, His love, His power, His peace? Do I thank Him for giving me a voice to praise Him, eyes to read His Word, ears to hear the laughter of my loved ones, hands to accomplish all He has called me to do?

Or do I just go through the motions? Mark it off my to-do list. Pray or read His Word or worship but with a distracted, distant heart. O forgive me Lord! You are so worthy of all our thanksgiving and focus and love. You know, it's not a mere matter of time. You could give Him just a few minutes of time but with a thankful, attentive heart, and it would mean abundantly more than hours spent with a preoccupied, ungrateful heart.

I know I sound like a broken record, but we (or I) just can't be reminded often enough to rejoice in the Lord! To choose to have an attitude of gratitude for what He has chosen to give us and to withhold from us. And to express our thankfulness out loud--either verbally or in writing--whether or not we "feel" like it. I recently read about a convicting example of such thankfulness shared by Nancy Ortberg:

"I worked as a registered nurse for about ten years before my life took a different direction. One of my earliest patients was a young girl of about 14 who had been in a dirt bike accident. I met this young girl down in the physical therapy department. She was in a whirlpool bath. I had read her chart before I went down to work with her and had learned that as a result of the accident, her leg had been amputated below the knee.

I couldn't imagine what it must be like to be a 14-year-old girl with part of your leg missing. I introduced myself, and we made some small talk. Through the course of our time together, I learned that she was a follower of Christ, although she really didn't say much about that.

I was not prepared for her spirit, however, especially when she lifted her freshly amputated leg up above the bubbling water for me to see and said, "Look at how much I have left!"

She excitedly told me that since the doctors were able to amputate below the knee, it was much easier to fit a prosthesis. She wondered how long it would take to heal so that she could get started with that. I heard most of what she was saying, but I wasn't really paying much attention. My mind was fixed back on the "look how much I have left!" Her gratitude seemed really genuine. It wasn't denial or a Pollyanna mentality. She knew she was missing a good part of her leg, and she wouldn't have chosen that. But she was so very thankful for this bit of good news. Her spirit made my spirit soar that day. And I had two good legs."

I, too, was fixated on her "Look at how much I have left!" How we need thankful hearts! We who have been given so much, how can we not overflow with gratitude to the Giver of all good gifts? Today, might we choose to be thankful with all we "have left" and not with what we might have lost or want or lack. Choose to "consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." Heb.12:3

Or as Heb.13:5-6 urges us "Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, 'I will never leave you or forsake you. So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'" He will never ever leave us. We will never ever be alone. And the Almighty, Omnipotent One is our helper! So we have no need to fear, for what is any problem or concern or person compared to the Incomparable Lord of the Universe? Could we ever merit such extravagant goodness? Nope. But He has poured it out upon us all the same--so be thankful! Rejoice in Him! (... and don't forget those thank you notes!) To our Helper and Sustainer and Provider and Redeemer be the glory.

Reframing Our Thoughts

I woke up this morning, thinking. Thinking about our schedule for the day, thinking about the errands I need to run, thinking about conversations from yesterday, thinking about packing my son for his return to college monday morning, thinking about what I would cook for breakfast (eating--always favorite food for thought, excuse the pun), thinking about what time my daughter and her friends would get up this morning and what I would fix them, thinking about cleaning out clutter (Lord have mercy), thinking about a busy week ahead, thinking about all the stuff I failed to do yesterday, thinking about what I wrote in this blog yesterday....

Have you noticed, we women are good thinkers? We tend to mull things over in our minds. And then the mulling tends to move to worrying. And the worrying tends to move to fussing and fretting and fearing. And then, woe be the next person who happens to walk into the room or look at us "funny" or innocently question anything in the world. One minute we seemed to be contentedly folding the laundry, and then the next minute our unsuspecting husband or children get blasted for NEVER (we imagine) helping around the house. What on earth happened here? Thinking, I'm telling you--it will get you every time!

Our thoughts really matter. Of course, we all know that, but then we (okay, I) tend to forget it in the course of our day and we/I allow our thoughts to run to places they have absolutely no business going. I'm not talking about something slimy... I just mean those pesky, willful thoughts that go visit locations like "why am I the only one doing any work around here?" or "this house is a total mess and I'm the only person in the universe who cares" or "wonder what he/she meant when she/he said..." or "this headache is probably a brain tumor" or "some chocolate sure would taste good right about now" or "I bet if I go shopping I would feel better" or "why can't my child be more like..." or "I sure wish I had more..." or "I sure wish I had a lot less..."

The potentially alluring locations our thoughts might meander to is endless, but the result, unless we step in and stop them, almost always results in discouragement or pride or fear or criticism (of others or ourselves). But we do have a choice! We can choose to stop those thoughts right in their tracks and either send them packing or reframe them into something which is God-honoring. So, I come back to yesterday's shorthand version of Phil.4:4-7 "Pray about everything; worry about nothing; rejoice in everything." We have to choose to take those thoughts of worry and say "NO!" And then choose instead to reframe them into prayer--with thanksgiving.

Just a silly example--my wandering thoughts about all I had to do today and all I failed to do yesterday might be reframed, "Father, thank You that You have given me a family and friends so that I have things You want me to accomplish. Thank You that You promise to give us strength that is equal to all You have called us to do. Thank You that You are sovereign and in control of this day. Please show me what I am to do and then by Your power, enable me to accomplish it to Your glory. O Lord, help me to love today and not be preoccupied by all I have to do." If we would do this with all those thoughts of worry or frustration or anxiety or anger, imagine the difference in our attitudes, our answers to prayer, our relationship with God and with our family and friends.

As I was contemplating this, I thought of something I just read by Henri Nouwen:

"Our minds are always active. We analyze, reflect, daydream, or dream. There is not a moment during the day or night when we are not thinking. You might say our thinking is "unceasing." Sometimes we wish that we could stop thinking for a while; that would save us from many worries, guilt feelings, and fears. Our ability to think is our greatest gift, but it is also the source of our greatest pain. Do we have to become victims of our unceasing thoughts? No, we can convert our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer by making our inner monologue into a continuing dialogue with our God, who is the source of all love. Let's break out of our isolation and realize that Someone who dwells in the center of our beings wants to listen with love to all that occupies and preoccupies our minds." I couldn't have said it better myself (duh)! We have the choice! We can choose today, moment by moment, to reframe or "convert our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer by making our inner monologue into a continuing dialogue with God." Or as Paul put it in I Thess.5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances,; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." The way I see it, if I'm praying without ceasing and rejoicing and giving thanks always, there just doesn't leave a speck of room for those negative, destructive thoughts. So, I'm back where I started (like I've said, I'm a good forgetter and need to be reminded over and over again): pray about everything; worry about nothing; rejoice in everything. Convert thoughts into praying and rejoicing--today (and tomorrow and the next), one moment at a time. To the One who hears and loves and acts, be all the glory.

The Day after the Day after the Best Day of my Life

How am I living on the day after the day after the best day of my life? I guess the question really boils down to: how well am I trusting God? If I'm trusting Him then I'll be grateful rather than grumpy. O dear, I just got frustrated with my nonstop ringing phone and a irritable teenager. If I'm trusting, then I'll be contented with whatever God has given me and with whatever He has withheld. That includes a settled contentedness even with a really slow car in front of me or a creaky back or a massive load of laundry or a frustrating schedule or a seeming failure of the world to understand and cater to my every desire.

I just always come back to Phil.4:4-7 "Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. the Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Rejoice in the Lord. Don't be anxious about anything. Pray about everything--with thanksgiving. Why can't I remember this?! I don't know about you, but I can do pretty well, and then suddenly the baby gets sick, the car breaks down, the sleep deficit adds up, the to-do list gets too overwhelming and, bam, there goes the attitude of gratitude. Here comes the worry or the frustration. Since I have a crummy memory, maybe I need to shorten it: pray about everything; worry about nothing; rejoice in everything. Pretty simple, huh? And the result will be God's supernatural peace and joy suffusing our hearts and our minds. It's a moment by moment choice. As I talked about on the day after the best day of my life, it's a matter of trusting in my Sovereign God and His perfect ways and work. So it's still true on the day after the day after the best day of my life, right? And honestly, isn't that where we really live: on the day after the day after the day after the day after the best day of our lives? It's life in the trenches and the ordinary grit and grime of the everyday.

Today, tomorrow, tonight, early in the morning, late in the afternoon, choose to pray about everything, worry about nothing, rejoice in everything. Say it out loud with me (because there is such power in the spoken word)--pray about everything, worry about nothing, rejoice in everything. I can't hear you--say it like you mean it! Because God did. Because He loves us beyond all comprehension and because His plans are perfect and will always always always work out for our ultimate good and His greater glory. Somehow. Someway. Someday. Don't ask me how. The good news is, I don't have to know how. I just have to know Who... And His name is Jesus.

So today, pray about everything, worry about nothing, rejoice in everything. And leave all the rest with Him--trust Him, He can handle it. To God be the glory.