This morning in my devotions I was reading David Jeremiah's book A Bend in the Road. He used this quote from Alan Redpath," As I lift up my eyes to Him, and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing for my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial will ever disarm me, no circumstance will ever cause me to fret, for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is."
Notice he did not say he would rest in the joy of what the Lord does, but in what He is. The Lord is the very essence of love. What He is and what He does is LOVE. If we take this perspective on everything that happens to us, it will change how we respond to the hard trials in life. Dr. Jeremiah says, "How will you choose to deal with your personal crisis-as an emergency or an opportunity? A stumbling block or a steppingstone? The moment you and I can begin to see things through the heavenly lens, the picture becomes more bearable-and we find new strength."
God is not taken by surprise, He is not alarmed by anything happening in your life and He is not panicking. Your past, present and future are before Him and in his grip all at once.
The greatest challenge we have is to leave our earthly perspective behind and embrace a heavenly one. If we can do this, our sorrow will ease, our pain will subside, and our hope will be renewed. Sit quietly with Him and ask for his peace and perspective to flood your thinking. He is painting the mosaic of your life one stroke at a time. Trust that you are a masterpiece in the making. The pain of trials is just one more color He's adding. They are as necessary as the joys He splashes across the canvas of your life. Each day, ask God to give you His perspective in pain. Don't ask to be taken from His easel before the painting of your life is completed.
"But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
My mouth will tell of Your righteousness,
of your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure.
I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone."
Psalm 71:14-16
Mom, my inspiration for throwing again
Sani and myself at the Masters Track and Field Championships
1st place finish in Javelin at USATF Masters Nationals
Placing 2nd in shot at the Nationals
Masters Nationals in Wisconsin
Hiking at Idyllwild
My brother Fritz and sister Sani in front of his church
Sewell, Dad and myself in New Mexico
Dad, Cori, Taryn and cousins
The entire family!
Cori and Taryn at Tahoe
2 comments:
Linn! Hi!
It's Abby Horn from the El Salvador trip. I was looking through old emails and saw your blog website and just wanted to see how you were doing and how teaching was going?
haha it's me again. I just read your blog, wow. it was so inspiring to read and it reminded me so much of how you encouraged me constantly in El Salvador. wow incredible. and i love love loved the psalm you pick. psalms are my favorite!
Post a Comment