O Christ, All thy ways of mercy tend to and end in my delight. Though didst weep, sorrow, suffer that I might rejoice. For my joy thou hast sent the Comforter,
multiplied thy promises, shown me my future happiness,
given me a living fountain.
Thou art preparing joy for me and me for joy; I pray for joy, wait for joy, long for joy;
Today I successfully grilled an entire meal. Pork, potatoes, sweet potatoes, mixed fresh vegetables. It was just scrumptious. One of the many excellent things about summer.
Today I was reminded of how very sinful I am. I got mad at a freezer. Or perhaps not the freezer as much as all the gazillion things in the freezer. They refused to be arranged in such a way that the freezer door would close, and delighted in taking turns sliding out onto the floor. So instead of being able to just check and see if we had any sausage, I had to stand in front of the freezer rearranging things for maybe four or five minutes. Rough life, huh? But I got really annoyed. I realized I was being annoyed by something stupid, but I got still more annoyed. At a freezer. At an inanimate object (or the dozens of seemingly animate objects?) stealing five minutes of my time. There was clearly no way I could attribute some sin to the freezer. It was all me -- angry that God had sent a very, very, very small challenge to my life.
When the surrender of ourselves seems too much to ask, it is first of all because our thoughts about God Himself are paltry. We have not really seen Him, we have hardly tested Him at all and learned how good He is. In our blindness we approach Him with suspicious reserve. We ask how much of our fun He intends to spoil, how much He will demand from us, how high is the price we must pay before He is placated. If we had the least notion of His lovingkindness and tender mercy, His fatherly care for His poor children, His generosity, His beautiful plans for us; if we knew how patiently He waits for our turning to Him, how gently He means to lead us to green pastures and still waters, how carefully He is preparing a place for us, how ceaselessly He is ordering and ordaining and engineering His Master Plan for our good -- if we had any inkling of all this, could we be reluctant to let go of our smashed dandelions or whatever we clutch so fiercely in our sweaty little hands?
I was given a peppermint plant today, and we were already growing one mint plant, so I foresee a summer of minty drinks! Tonight I made a mint julep which was quite tasty. I drank it while putting sheets on my very fat new mattress. Just think how many more calories I'll burn over time, having to jump a couple inches farther every time I mount my bed.
I'm looking forward to a really good night's sleep.
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