Alas, though, that is not my concern. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. And indeed, we are being resurrected. He is faithful and He is good, and so I will praise the Name of the Lord!
Daniel 11:35 says, "Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end." Not that I would for a moment claim to be wise (I think one could clearly see that through my discourse here), but I do know that God desires to refine, purify and make spotless, and I can see God's gentle hand of love and correction all over my life. And just as Job cried out to God, so now do I cry out, "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
One of my favorite verses of Scripture comes out of Job 40:6, "Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm." That's the voice that I so desire to hear. That is the voice that will speak truth and honesty, love and grace. That is the voice that speaks rebuke and discipline, compassion and mercy. Oh, I have so much to learn about following Him, but may my voice fall in line with His, sound like His and speak His words.
My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.
Psalm 145:21
Grace and peace, y'all.
What a strange culture we live in. So bold and almost belligerent in the exertion of our freedom of expression. Yet we recoil at the gut-wrenching reality that is sometimes life.
ReplyDeleteI know I am guilty of it all...of painting on a face, of offering platitudes. And I know I am guilty of wanting others to do the same.
I wondered why God was bringing this verse to mind:
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
But take a look at the rest of the verse:
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
(Isaiah 5:20)
It seems to me that God is saying that sometimes there is evil, sometime we are in the darkness and sometimes life is bitter. And in those times we shouldn't paint on a smile and pretend that all is warm and fuzzy. But in God's mercy, I also see the flip side. That when things are good and we are walking in the light and that life is sweet we can, without reservation, brag about the goodness of God.
I love the real life honesty in blogging. I figure as long as I don't use real names, and don't give every tiny, gossipy detail, it helps me to work through thoughts and feelings. I'm sorry you got burned. :(
ReplyDeleteDonita,
ReplyDeleteYour insight always amazes me. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
Monica,
I appreciate you sharing that. It encourages me to hear that from someone else in the "blogging world." I'm sure this won't be last time to get burned, so we'll just push on through and continue to live. Thanks for your encouragement!
-Shauna