Skip to main content

Circumstances That Bludgeon Us Into Insensibility


For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)
          It’s been a difficult couple of weeks. I’ve said before that I know God will not let me miss the next exit. I’ve also said that in spite of all the heart ache, I know God is good. But I’m weary at the moment, so I am thinking about this verse. Technically, God made this promise to Israel. Also, technically, He has fulfilled it in my life. It doesn’t matter how big a nightmare the next several decades are, because it’s a small thing compared to eternity. I’m still convinced that God will provide all my needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. 
         I still know all these things. I know that it won’t last forever. I know that a nap after lunch will do wonders. But today is an attitude check day, and my attitude is worse than it should be. I’m focused on the troubles, the aches, the weariness, and I need to focus elsewhere. I need to focus on Him and what He is doing. 
         I’ve said before, this summer isn’t going the way it was supposed to. I wasn’t going to garden. If anything got done around the house other than caring for Dad and writing, it was supposed to be done inside the house. I didn’t know what, but my logic was simple: stuff done to improve the inside of the house would make life better for me. The outside could wait. 
          As you probably know, that wasn’t God’s plan. For years, I dreamed of having a tree in both sides of the front yard. For not quite so many years, I’ve dreamed of having service berries, or some other berry that birds like in my front yard. I’ve also thought about having an herb garden along the foundation in front. This summer, I got all but the last, and the way has been cleared for the last. 
         I’ve wanted trees in the back yard, and a fence to keep the dog in the yard. I’ve wanted to build a little garden sitting area behind the garage. I love the idea of having free food, which is why I put myself through the torture of planting a garden every year. 
          I’m actually hating writing what I’ve just written, because I feel like I’m bragging. That’s not what I want to do. But in the midst of things not being the way they’re “supposed to be” and near the center of the chaos that swirls round us, and sometimes as part of the chaos, God blesses. In spite of the fact that it often feels like I’m doing nothing of value, God is bringing about something of value. In the case of my crab apple tree, even in spite of my whims, He’s blessing. But if He hadn’t done it the way He did it, I would probably never have noticed. 
         Lord, help us to notice the blessings You give us. Open our eyes to see Your hand, and to recognize the beauty and blessing you give us even in the middle of circumstances that bludgeon us into insensibility.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more