are you praying for peace?
Jim
It would be great fun for me to be able to say that I'm never doubting,
never angry at the way things go. It would be wonderful to live and walk
always above the clouds that often fill the sky, obscuring stars and moon at
night, bright warmth during the day.
I would like very much to say that I am always confident, always at peace,
always happy and singing the praises of my God. Certainly He is worthy of
such praise, and worthy of all my confidence.
But I find that I am very human.
I lose patience with other people, get angry in traffic, and sometimes worry
myself almost crazy.
Has God ever failed me? No. Not even once.
Has God ever let me down when I really needed His help? No. Never.
I'm alive today because of His good care. I'm in good health today because
of His kindness and mercy. I'm relatively comfortable today because the
Lord is with me to provide even the things that go beyond mere need.
And yet I'm often so anxious. I'm often troubled. Many nights rest comes
late and then doesn't stay for very long. I worry.
I find that I spend too much of my time complaining, trying my best to
wrestle life around in order to force it to conform to my will. Not that I
often succeed.
God has a will. And I have a will. And too often I find that my will is
not bent on seeking His will. That failure on my part almost always leads
to unhappiness -- and more worry.
But I know the Lord is faithful to always do good. He's kind beyond all my
imagination and hope. When this life is finally done, and all the stuff of
this world is far behind me, I will look back and see things more as they
really are, as they really were all along. I'll no longer see things
through the eyes of my constant demanding. I'll see at last the sheer
beauty of God's perfect making and doing.
It's so easy to miss seeing the spectacular when our focus in too low, too
narrow. The other night, I saw the Northern Lights, the Aurora Borealis. I
stood there gazing up in wonder, watching a display of amazing grandeur and
quiet beauty.
That experience told me that God is always there, always working His
wonders, even when we don't sense His hand at work. Had I not awakened and
(because of a short series of events) gone outside and looked up (at 1:30 in
the morning) I wouldn't have known what was going on right above my head. I
would've missed the whole thing.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the
LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8,9 NRSV)
Oh, my Father and my God, help me to always look up. Please forgive my
constant wrestling with life, trying to force it over to my will. Help me
to allow Your goodness and light to fill all my sight, all my heart, and all
my thoughts. I ask this in the Name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.
Thank You, Lord.
Jim
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