This
morning I find myself elated in the patience and endurance of God. Last night
was crazy… I worried things to death as I laid there in bed and tossed and
turned in the middle of the night. The things I fretted over were genuinely
silly and absolutely not in keeping with my trust in God.
This
morning, all I can say (and said to God) is that I had a really stupid night;
really stupid. And I am sorry.
But,
also, this morning I can say that I am more in love with God and with my Bethany family and our
God driven Pastor than I have ever been before. Somehow, wrestling with things
these days is much more productive than it used to be. Why? Because now
I have been fed so well from the Word of God that I can immediately perceive
that I was stupid; and I can turn around and praise God for His Great Love; I
have been reminded that everywhere in His Word, no matter the book or chapter,
we are told about that Great Love, and of the compassion He has for his own children
in each book: even in Judges.
These
trips we take through the books of the Bible are very much an adventure through
God’s thinking and planning and His methods of preparing us for life with Him
in the future.
In
Ladies Bible Study, we are looking at Ruth for a moment and we see a beautiful
story of God’s patience and love and planning when a man makes a decision based
on “what he thinks is right in his own
eyes.” As things develop we realize that, without this decision, Ruth would
never have met Boaz, with whom she produced a son whom they named Obed - a
prominent person in the line of Jesus Christ, Himself. There, in the midst of a
time when God could have dealt with the Israelites as He did with Sodom, He
kept his covenant and loved a woman called Ruth, the Moabitess, who was to be a
mother in the line leading to the birth of Christ.
Wow.
These are just two of the books of the Bible; but what profound lessons are
learned in them.
I,
personally, appreciate the fact that our Pastor Tim follows his own heart – at
God’s prompting – and feeds us from book after book after book. (And that he
allows and prompts his fellow pastors to join him in leading us through these
books.) I am overwhelmed with the love
that God gives him and, in return, he gives to us.
This
morning I am comparing what I feel with the phrase often used by people who
have been married for a long time: I love him/her more today than I did when I
was first married.
In
this church, I have learned to love Him more today than I ever have before, and
I thank Him that He has given me such a great environment to grow up in.
I
can only hope, and pray, that others are realizing a great feast from the Word
on a daily and weekly basis in several different ways. God’s Word is a
celebratory feast for all of us to enjoy and I hope (and know) that many of my
friends and loved ones are enjoying the feast as much as I am.
May
we all give back to God the Love that He gives to us and may we tell Him so
every single day.
Our Father, Our Lord
and Savior and our Life Coach, the Holy Spirit, we thank you for all that you
are and all that you do in our most insignificant daily life.
I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them and my soul is
downcast within me.
YET, this I call to mind (everyday) and therefore I have hope:
Because
of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
THEY ARE NEW EVERY MORNING:
Great is Your faithfulness.
I say to myself the Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for Him.
The Lord is good to those who hope in Him,
to the one who seeks Him;
It is good to wait patiently for the
salvation of the Lord.
Lamentations 3:19-26
Therefore,
may we all give to God every single fret and worry so that we may live the life
of Joy that He offers us.
God Bless you all. Amen
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