It's simple, really . . .

Abba, create in me a pure heart and a steadfast spirit so that I may please You, honor You - for I seek to know You in each and every moment of the day. Which path to follow – and yet I believe when we are truly seeking You that You make Yourself available to be found – no matter which path we take. The desire to “see Your face” comes from You and if You have created that desire within me, then I know it will be fulfilled. I have only to trust You, to rest in You and witness Your transforming power – do what needs to be done in me. It's simple really, even a child can do it – and it is child-like faith that opens our eyes to see and our hearts to receive. Oh the joy, the sweet contentment of just being in Your presence.

And all the sons of God shouted for joy . . .

Joy - that is the most amazing word and I see more and more it is His desire for me, to live in abundant joy. It comes from giving thanks for all that surrounds me and knowing these “moments of grace” are His gifts of love for me and all I need to do is open my eyes and my heart to see and receive them. Oh the uncontainable joy when my joy in Him meets with His joy in me – a glimpse of glory and the eternal.

. . . for I have learned

Reading today Ann Voskamp, Eucharisteo, thankfulness, gratitude – finding joy in life, even when there is death, divorce and debt. Gifts from my Abba come in many different packages, and the gifts themselves can sometimes cause me to stop and wonder . . . why . . when it was something else I wanted.

But He knows what I need, what will bring wholeness and well-being to my life.

A long ago memory, a birthday, I was young, 8 or 9.   Someone gave me a shirt. I remember my disappointment, my “un”gratefulness for the gift. I wanted a toy, a game or something else that would bring me pleasure.  I remember my mom explaining that I should be grateful that someone cared enough to give me something I needed. . . and not something I would soon grow tired of. At the time, I don't think I fully appreciated the wisdom of what she was saying.

The gifts our Father gives we often see as that “shirt” - not what we want but always what we need, though we may not understand at the time.

I want to learn that attitude of gratitude . . . easy to say, harder to live by . . . but then He isn't finished with me yet.

Don't be anxious.

Abba, what happens when “another's” free will runs into Your sovereignty? I know Your will will be accomplished, no matter who or what happens, because You're God . . . but there are consequences to our choices. Your ways are so much higher than our ways – of understanding. You are eternal and hold the future in Your hands. We are limited by time, by our flesh and our minds cannot grasp just how very BIG YOU are. I do know that I can always and in everything trust You – in the things I don't understand because of things I do know about You. . . and that is enough, more than enough for me.

Whose in charge?

I'm struggling lately with events beyond my control. Reading last night in “Women Under Stress” I came across the statement - “no goal is good when it is beyond our control. It will only cause stress and make us feel guilty if we “fail”. We need to live our lives for God and leave the results to Him.

And then this morning I came across the following in a fb post: What is your biggest pet peeve? An irritating experience caused by others in which you have no control. There it is . . . control or lack of – and how it can impact my life and my sense of well being.

And then there's the familiar Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the serenity  to accept the things I cannot change;  courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

 The remainder of that prayer, which I'd never heard, is: Living one day at a time;  Enjoying one moment at a time;  Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;  Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;  Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life  and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen.

And finally Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. Proverbs 3, 5-6

I say “and finally” because this is ultimately where I end up, and in truth, it's where I want to be. Simply and completely trusting in, surrendered to and clinging to the ONE who is in control. Knowing that He is faithful and true and that His desires for me are always for my good and for His glory. I choose to rely upon Him as the source of my well being; and that even in the storms of life, He is my anchor and provides a peace beyond my understanding or my control.

Thoughts of Redemption

Then it hit me: redemption. That is what He desires. He desires redemption over innocence. Our sin was here all along only now we were forced to deal with it. The chains, the pit falls, the stumbling had been brought into the light so that redemption could take place.

 

Abba, this was from a blog and it so resonated within me – that You are all about redemption. You know and understand our weaknesses, our tendency toward sin and have made a way out of that bondage into freedom.

This won’t be the end. It won’t be the last time we deal with this. In times of desperation, loneliness, hunger and exhaustion we will find temporary comfort in our chains. That short satisfaction that will only take us further away from the Truth that we know. Its in those moments, when we don’t realize it, that God is preparing us. Preparing us for redemption, revival and to be taken out of the way. To purge what was there and brought to the reality of our selfishness. . . For we must remember that we do not fall into sin,we are led into it by the choices we make. Yet in that moment, we can learn to stop pushing and rest. Rest in the knowledge that He is fighting for us and the victory is already won.

Abba, as I read these words, I find hope but I also find an excuse – because I know that I will sin again. I want to blame my own weakness, to hide behind it. There is this connection between my weakness and Your strength. I read this morning that “human weakness consecrated to You is like a magnet, drawing Your power into my neediness”. Fear can block this, does block this from happening. The root then is not my weakness but my fears.

Abba, help me to see my fears through Your eyes, to identify just what it is I'm afraid of and then help me to let it go – to surrender it and look to You. Perfect love casts out fear. Your love for us and our love for You. Your love is perfect. Mine, however, is a work in progress, but a work that You have begun and will therefore complete.

I also know that I can rejoice in my weaknesses because they cause me to rely upon, to cling to and rest in Your redeeming love.

Creation calls