The Lord has been gracious and good to me this past week. Working through grief and seeing beyond my grief. Everyone is going through something. I have a friend whose mom is most likely dying of cancer. Our church has been in turmoil for over a year. It is tiring and exhausting. I think and pray for the staff who is affected everyday. Former staff people are also affected. The pain is far reaching. I have friends that suffer from infertility. People strugging to make ends meet. These are not uncommon to man. There is always going to be something.
Everyone is going through something. My prayer is that I, personally, and everyone else, look beyond what they are going through and learn to abide in Christ. That is what He is teaching me this week. Because I can be assured that once this is over, there is going to be something else. But He is faithful. He is sovereign. He covers all. He is mighty and mighty to save.
Oswald Chambers speaks to me. If you have ever picked up "My Utmost for His Highest" and read some of the devotionals that were compiled from this man's messages years ago you probably had one of two reactions.
One, this guy is over my head. Two, wow, this guy is over my head but I want to dig deeper.
I favor the latter. I ALWAYS get something out of O.C.
Christmas 2005 I gave Greg "My Utmost" in his stocking. I knew I wanted to read it too. Pretty soon I was snagging O.C. after Greg got through with it in the morning. Then somehow, the book ended up on my bible. Now, I just need to go get Greg another copy. I read it almost every day. It challenges me. It makes me think. It convicts me. It makes me dig. Sometimes with a two year old that is all I have time for, however, more often than not, O.C. simply gets me going, gets me focused and thinking on the things of God before I move on to a deeper study.
And yes, even after reading it every day for over two years, I still get more out of it.
So, the other day, in the middle of all this grief in my heart, I read a devotional that really spoke to me. Basically, it reminded me that I am not the only person going through pain. There are a lot of others going through pain too. And that God is big enough to cover all of us.
All we have to do is abide in Him. All I have to do is come to Him.
God woke me up an hour earlier than I needed to because I have wanted to share this with everyone for over a week. I needed to hear it again today before we leave on the trip.
Listen to this excerpt. It really says it all.
Where sin and sorrow stops, and the song of the saint starts. Do I really want to get there? I can right now. The questions that truly matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words--"Come to Me." Our Lord's words are not, "Do this or don't do that," but--Come to Me."
...The attitude necessary for you to come to Him is one where your will has made the determination to let go of everything and deliberately commit it all to Him
"...and I will give you rest"--that is, "I will sustain you, causing you to stand firm." He is not saying, "I will put you to bed, hold your hand, and sing you to sleep." But, in essence, He is saying, "I will get you out of bed--out of your listlessness and exhaustion, and your condition of being half dead while you are still alive. I will penetrate you with the spirit of life, and you will be sustained by perfection of vital activity." Yet we become so weak and pitiful and talk about "suffering" the will of the Lord. Where is the majestic vitality and the power of the Son of God in that?
Excerpted from My Utmost for His Highest, June 11th. Scripture: Matthew 11:28
That is really all I need. And you too. I hope you take advantage of it today. I know I sure am!
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