One Fine Morning

A grand start to the week. Yes, I did feel more fatigued than I had hoped, but what a good day. Yes, it was cooler, with overcast skies and a little drizzle. Still, it was a beautiful morning. It reminded me of so many other mornings long past. And although I was fatigued right out of the gate, the morning was gone before I knew it, and soon it was time to leave work. God, again sustaining me through the day.

A dear friend that is battling cancer through a more difficult set of circumstances is seeking help from a cancer center in NY. Please petition God to intervene and heal Alan. Also pray that the way would be made smooth for them as they seek this avenue, and pray that they will be bold and confident as they try to help their children understand.

I keep thinking of the last few posts and the idea that (I) we never first consider what God may be doing. Why is that? Is it our unbelief? Do the desires of our heart make our vision myopic? Do we think God so big that he couldn't be involved in the myriad of minute details that make up our life? We acknowledge him as Lord, and often as LORD, with our mouths, but is that emanating from the deepest part of our soul?

I am not convinced there is a single correct answer. It does come down to being a heart matter, but that seems too easy. But that is where I'll drive in a stake. It is all about the heart. God tells in in many, many scriptures that his focus is our heart, he works on our heart, and that he seeks to live in our heart. So is the heart important? Yes, it is.

The mind is important also. With it we consider experiential factors that inform us one way or another. We draw on our knowledge (given by God) to understand the space and time of our lives. Ultimately, though, the mind is important because it is how we get to know of God.

The soul is crucial, for we are spiritual beings and God is spirit. It is in our spirit that the three persons of the trinity have sway over me through various means. Communion happens in the spirit. And so does real comfort and real rest.

Lastly, strength must be in the positive. Not my strength, mind you, for that surely leads away from God quite possible to trust in my own self. And strength does not mean overpowering force - not my overpowering strength, anyway. No, this strength comes from God alone. This is a strength completely familiar with suffering, for God's strength provided himself as the atonement for our sin.

We needn't worry or fret over whatever God may be up to. True enough, it is difficult to know his mind. When we try to figure it out, instead of seeing his work in and through us as the riches of his blessings, we miss out and begin to question God more earnestly. All you really need to do, by his grace is laid out in this passage from Deuteronomy, chapter 6: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. He wants all of me. The complete package, nothing held back.

May he show me what that means deeper each day and may I be obedient to let go of my grip on me even as I hold fast to him.