Not once but four times yesterday the Lord gave me opportunity to speak with people that were on my heart and I wanted to talk with them. Two were friends who have been on the church prayer list for months and both of them were there for the first time in a long time. Chatting on the phone or with email is not the same as face-to-face, never mind the matter of hugs.
The other two were a surprise as well, consider a crowd of nearly 500 people. I wanted to introduce a teen to a woman whose son is the same age and considering coming to church next week. This boy would make a newcomer feel welcome and be glad to do so. I could not see him, but the next thing I knew, he was giving me a hug and getting the other boy’s name from his mom.
The last surprise involved a couple with a baby bump. I wanted to celebrate with them, but again, the crowd of people makes finding anyone a challenge. However, as we prepared to leave, they were in front of us and we rejoiced with them in anticipation of their first child.
Today’s devotional points out that God is good, and I should be thankful, not because of good things like those four instances, but because He is good. I am not wise enough to judge whether some things are really, in their essence, joys or sorrows; but knowing that He is good means I can be absolutely certain that everything He provides or permits must be good, including my recent illness. I’ve learned that I can be thankful for the trials. The key is being able to see the events of life with His eyes.
That is not always the way life comes to us. This last few weeks were wrapped in “rough coverings” and seemed worthless, even as if this came from the enemy and I did not want to accept what was happening. However, I would have lost something special. As the devotional writer says, be aware that we should not fight against the most unlikely for it may be a blessing from God that is temporarily disguised. As I learned first hand, submission is the route to victory, and very soon adds thanksgiving. As the chorus says, I can…
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalm 100:4)Knowing God and realizing the truth about Him is vital to discerning the value of both “coincidental surprises” and unpleasant disasters. He is in charge and because of that, no matter what is happening, I can praise Him.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Psalm 150:6)
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (Revelation 5:13)
PRAY: Jesus, of course I prefer the pleasant places, the pleasing surprises. I loved the calls from my adult children this week, their gifts and their thoughtfulness. I love it when my hubby does chores so I can have extra sleep and when my brothers both called the same day. I don’t like the struggle of trying to sleep with a persistent cough, yet am glad to have nights with no coughing at all. But what joy to realize that You use the unpleasant things to bless me also, to teach me that You are not absent but drawing me into a deeper relationship with You and a deeper understanding that love is not coddling me but preparing me for the surprises of how deep and wide is the love You have for this slow-to-learn child. Praise Your name, now and forever.
