|
|
i'm pretty sure i'll have plenty of space to tuck you all away in my carry-on...
| | |
| so, lately i've been struck by how much i rely on my own wisdom. that i quickly assume my reasoning, my logic, my ways are right and good and sure.
false!!!
and i'm doing this because my eyes are fixed on myself, my circumstances, and not the Lord. i began to re-read Knowledge of the Holy, by AW Tozer, to look again at who God is. because i desperately need to re-adjust my focus. and that happens only in Christ. this excerpt is a bit long, but SO good. i encourage you to read it through. i am so convicted and challenged...and i pray it encourages you to trust more deeply in our Great God.
"To believe actively that our Heavenly Father constantly spreads around us providential circumstances that work for our present good and our everlasting well-being brings to the soul a veritable benediction. Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart.
There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God. Our insistence upon seeing ahead is natural enough, but it is a real hindrance to our spiritual progress. God has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him. Here is His promise, 'And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make dark places light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.'...
God constantly encourages us to trust Him in the dark. 'I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.'
It is heartening to learn how many of God's mighty deeds were done in secret, away from the prying eyes of men or angels. When God created the heavens and the earth, darkness was upon the face of the deep. When the Eternal Son became flesh, He was carried for a time in the darkness of the sweet virgin's womb. When He died for the life of the world, it was in the darkness, seen by no one at the last. When He arose from the dead, it was 'very early in the morning'. No one saw Him rise. It is as if God were saying, 'What I am is all that need matter to you, for there lie your hope and your peace. I will do what I will do, and it will all come to light at last, but how I do it is My secret. Trust Me, and be not afraid.'
With the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack? Surely we are the most favored of all creatures."
surely.
| | |
| HE must increase; but I must decrease.
-John the Baptist
| | |
| in light of the recent rash of friends returning to their xanga blogs, i also am ready to resume. or at least, for now. i always open my xanga page with great intentions...lofty goals of writing a brilliant, sincere, witty post. and then my mind blanks. or i read other people's wonderful musings and my own vanish as i ponder theirs. or my thoughts no longer seem right, or proper, or something. words suddenly escape me and i don't know how to verbalize the workings of my mind. maybe this is hard evidence that i'm a verbal processor...something of which i'm still not entirely convinced. or maybe i should just write about my day. life is interesting enough, right? but there's seems to be something missing should i merely regurgitate the events of the past 24 hours. i want to communicate more than that. we are more than just the days that we live. and yet, sometimes that's all i know how to describe.
life doesn't make sense. becoming an adult is hard. and wonderful. and hard. and an adventure. and hard. and i don't even want to attempt one day, one moment without the Lord. yet, i'm so easily distracted. my heart is drawn away SO stinkin easily. recently, i've been studying the life of David. for a long time the question, "what does it really look like to be a woman after God's own heart?" has been burning in my heart. and finally, i've begun to ask the Lord.
and do you know what He's been telling me? that it means having a heart like Christ. as He continues the work He started in me, the things He does in my heart, the things i surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, those are the things that cause my heart to be one that seeks after God's heart. it's all so simple, really. and very challenging at the same time. David sure resembled Christ. except for the sin. can that be true of me too? and even when i sin, will i keep coming and coming and coming to the Lord? oh, how i want it to be. self, please get out of the way.
| | |
| what does that really mean anyway?
| | |
|
