Skip to main content

Failure

             May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

Sometimes, I think when we read these words, we’re expecting God to change so that whatever comes out of our mouths or wanders through our minds is acceptable to God. After all, it’s just part of who we are. Perhaps some of us hope that God will miraculously make the unacceptable words and meditations go away. What it really means, of course, is that our goal is to learn to speak and think in a manner pleasing to God. As yesterday’s verses (quoted again above) point out, what we should be talking about and meditating on is whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and/or praiseworthy. It goes back to the old saying, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything.”

It's much later in the day, and I have to admit that much of it has not involved words or meditations that God is likely to have found pleasing. I had the day off, so I set it aside to get lots of cooking done. I’m supposed to take a snack for 50 to a meeting tomorrow, so mini-muffins were on the to-do list, along with soup and dog food. Lots of dishes were done over and over again. All in all, I probably did better than I deserve, but one of the batches of mini-muffins would not come out of the pan, so it’s now 5 pm and I’m only halfway there on the muffins. Between the dishes and the recipe failure, I’m frustrated. In fact, I’m frustrated enough that I went to the store and bought a mix. But the point is, my meditations aren’t what I think would please God.

          But God is still God, and He is good. A solution was found. God would still be God and good even if a solution weren’t found. Things are almost ready for tomorrow. The crisis has passed, and as frustrating as it was, it wasn’t as devastating as it seems to me it would have been in the past. God has brought me this far, even if I’m still not “pretty.”

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

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

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more