Preaching to Myself

I recently shared some thoughts to encourage a friend, and found that the Lord was using my own words to speak to me about something I was struggling with! So, I thought I'd put those thoughts here, as a reminder to myself, and perhaps an encouragement to anyone who happens across this entry:

The Lord is faithful! I have been recently meditating on a verse my old college pastor shared the last time he visited my current church, “God is good and He does good”.

I'm also thinking about Philippians 4:4-9 (ESV) “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. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

The Lord knows that our minds tend to go to “unhealthy places” if left to their own devices (I am speaking from 42 years of experience here!), but if we are to worship Him with all our hearts, all our souls, all our strength & all our MINDS then we need to discipline our thoughts. The devil would love to keep you & me trapped in all the “what ifs” and trying to figure our way out of them… I won’t burden you with my latest batch of them… but we are to “Rejoice in the Lord” - it doesn’t say “rejoice in your circumstances” the Lord knows the circumstances aren’t always lovely… but we can still REJOICE in His presence, in His promises, in His faithfulness, in His care for us, in His ability to carry us though – He is the God of the entire universe, yet He cares for you, and knows the number of hairs on your head (and has adjusted the count to subtract the few you’ve pulled out during this recent trial!). If we think on these lovely, excellent, praise-worthy things, then the God of peace will be with us – and that’s what we really need! His presence and His peace – great promises! AND, isn’t it wonderful that He thought to promise them long before we even realized we would need them :~) We’ve got a good Dad – He is good & He does good!

Quote of the Day

"God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially formed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain." -- C. S. Lewis

As I consider the challenges I've taken on lately, this quote gives special comfort. GOD KNEW the heartache, the exhaustion, the joys, the difficulties that would all be wrapped up in us taking in a precious baby boy while his parents dealt with some critical issues. We are glad for the opportunity, yet exhausted in the day-by-day transformation that a newborn brings to our otherwise quiet abode.

Baby's nickname is "Little Bit" (B.I.T. = Beagle in Training). I'm not sure his parents would appreciate the comparison to our lovable dog (the formerly spoiled only "child" of the household), but we've noted a few ways they are alike. They both seem to want to eat all the time when they are awake, they are both very cuddly, neither one speaks in terms we can clearly understand, they don't have much patience for waiting, and they both give us rather quizzical looks when we try to reason with them... but the likeness between 6 week old boys & 5 year old beagles pretty much ends there - except we love them both LOTS!

So, tribulation? Well, increased coffee dependency created by lack of sleep is a small price to pay... heck, every parent of a newborn goes through that! Our trial is of a different nature, as we love this child who we will some day have to give back to his parents. We have known from the beginning that there would be heartache at the end of this journey. We anticipate it, we are not blind to the fact that it's lurking around the corner.

Why do it then? Why not let someone else "handle it"? Would you believe it's because of Christ? He knew the heartache I would cause Him. I've not faithfully followed Him every day of this new life He's so graciously given me. I have, time and again, fallen into various sins... through my own willful, pitiful choices... and He knew I would! He knew I would break His heart, that I would turn my back, AND YET HE CHOSE ME! He chose to love me, to adopt me into His family, at great cost to Himself - even though He knew I would do things that would hurt Him. If He was willing to pay so great a price for me, how can I not follow His example and do the same? Even though it will break my heart, there will be joy to see a family reunited, to see a baby grow up knowing he is loved and valued, and that he has a unique destiny from God.