Saturday, September 26

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

The Lord is so faithful to me. I pray for renewed ability to trust and surrender, and He provides grace and answers to difficult questions. I pray for companionship on this journey of faith, and He provides a beautiful friend to share life’s joys and challenges with. I do not deserve the attention to detail He always seems to achieve, but He doesn’t give it because I have earned it. He gives it because He is good. 



I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my heart with another. It’s amazing how a change of perspective can cause you to reevaluate, give you new courage and hope. It’s even more amazing how when it comes down to it, we are not as alone in our crosses as we think. More often than we realize, our challenges are not so different from those of people close to us. 


The roots of our experiences – stress, anxiety, discouragement, fear, etc – are universal, even if their particular evincing in our lives is unique. I draw so much comfort from the realization that what I experience, others have experienced and overcome and will continue to endure. We learn from each other, from our successes and failures, and together, we move forward towards a common goal of holiness, of unity with Christ.

My challenge for this week is to take the time to recognize the many blessings in my life and learn better to draw joy and happiness from them. Life is hard, but that truth makes it no less poignant, exquisite, or worthwhile. Learning to love ourselves and our lives in the midst of our individual circumstances is a lifelong commitment, but one that makes daily life worth living. 


Instead of focusing on the illusory “someday” – that day when all will be blissful, easy, perfect – we instead grow to love who we are today on the way to who we will become. We must live in the present moment, the only one we are assured we will have.

By focusing on being content in our day-to-day circumstances and drawing joy from the big and little blessings alike, the peace will come. Oh, the peace. I long for it with every fiber of my being. That wondrous state of existence when all else fades before the knowledge that all is well in the Hands of God. Nothing can shake you when you stand firm in His peace. All becomes manageable, meaningful, acceptable. Your will is united with His. 




My mother beautifully describes it as allowing the river’s current to sweep you along, instead of wasting all your energy trying to swim upstream. When I think of peace, I imagine Christ sleeping in the boat as the storm raged around Him. Just because you are at peace in the Lord does not at all mean the storm has ended or has no affect. Rather, it has no power to cause you fear or anxiety, because you are protected by a greater power, Whom all the winds and the seas obey.

Now, the peace, joy, and contentment I seek are not to be confused with complacency and laziness. I do not intend to remain stagnant in my own situation, not moving forward because I’m ok with where I am. I fully intend to challenge myself, to grow in my relationship with the Lord, to seek deeper meaning in my life and my crosses, and to discover new joy in my daily activities. My goal above all is to honor and glorify Him in every moment of every day, no matter what I am doing. Whether I am changing a dirty diaper, singing on stage, running errands, ministering to a broken heart, or simply sitting and relaxing, I intend to glorify Him in all things. 


That’s what we were created to do – our purpose is to glorify Him through our accomplishments, through our humility, through our journey towards holiness, towards Him.

Wish me luck!



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