Hide and Seek

"Dear reader, you must realize that God has only one desire... His desire is to give Himself to the soul that really loves Him and to that soul which earnestly seeks Him. And yet it is true that this God who desires to give Himself to you will often conceal Himself from you - from you, the very one who seeks Him! Now why would God do that? Dear saint of God, you must learn the ways of your Lord. Yours is a God who often hides Himself. He hides Himself for a purpose. Why? His purpose is to rouse you from spiritual laziness. His purpose in removing [the sense of His presence] from you is to cause you to pursue Him." -- from 'Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ' by Madame Guyon

HT: Andrea

There is a way...

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12)

My friend Casey is one of the most encouraging people I know. First, I know she loves me...so that's a great foundation for encouragement. But more than that, no matter what I say or how I say it, she always manages to look up at me with those big, bright blue eyes and say something just plain sweet and noble, true, pure, lovely, admirable or praiseworthy (Phillipians 4:8). She doesn't just help me to see some phanthom silver lining, she encourages me to believe the best about God, His portion for me, and hope in what is unseen.

And did I mention she's just plain sweet?

Well, she is.

Anyway, she did it again tonight. She asked about a particular area of struggle for me: my weight. And though I feel like I'm doing worse than I have in a very long time, she lifted me up and made me not only feel encouraged about what God is doing in me right now, but hopeful that He will do something more specifically in this area.

I just love her.

As I drove home, I thought over our conversation and her encouragement and what I felt the Lord communicating to me through all of this. It was a basically this: There is a way.

Lately, I feel like I've been falling into the trap of making my efforts to combat sin about the method. My battle with food is the food (types, quantities, frequency, cravings). My battle with singleness is with the desire to be married or with making myself marryable. In any given moment, my battle with worry and anxiety is with the particular circumstance.

This just isn't true.

My battle with sin is not betweeen me and food or me and singless or me and a person or me and a circumstance, it is between me and the Lord. When I indulge or otherwise try to satiate myself or order my circumstances, I am trying to control and order my life without God...instead of God.

No wonder I just wind up frustrated and a big fat mess!

There is a way that seems right to man...often that way looks like a new diet, a new venue to meet single men, actively pursuing what I think will make me happy...but the end is the way to death - to feeling separated and distant from God.

I feel the encouragment the Lord had for me this evening, and perhaps for some of you is this: whatever it is, whatever your sin looks like, it is not the issue. He is. No matter how we try to sugar coat it or justify or find reasons to talk ourselves into beliving otherwise, if there is an area of consistent sin in our lives we are not walking rightly with the Lord. The solution is not devising a plan of action to attack that thing or avoid it (though repentance and fighting temption is necessary). The real solution lies in drawing nearer to Christ. He has borne our griefs. He has paid the just penalty for our sin. His stripes have made us clean. And it is abiding in Him that will truly change us and allow us to walk uprightly before our God.

There is a way.

He is the way.

He is the only way.

That is truth and life. Amen.

Things I'm thankful for: The Dudler

I remember the first day I met the Dudler. It was at my parent's home in the backyard on the deck. He was tiny, barely more than 2 years old and spoke to me in a perfect sentence and with perfect articulation. I was amazed. He then proceeded to climb into my lap and chatter away about who knows what. I was intrigued by this pint-sized person who was at once very grown up and very much a kid. He was full of energy, talked non-stop and was very easily distracted. As time went on and he became a part of our family, some of the things that were intriguing about him became challenges to caring for him. I like him. I enjoyed him most of the time. My love for him came later.

The visceral, instant love I felt when the Princess was born wasn't there for the Dudler right away. He was not a part of me. He was almost a "kid" when I met him. His family situation was difficult, even frustrating at times. He was difficult and frustrating at times. So for all of those reasons, and I'm sure many others that involve sin on my part, love took a while. I remember the day it came though...

I was at his parent's apartment. His mom had come in and we were talking about some struggles she was having fitting into our family and balancing life and school and work. Somewhere in that conversation she mentioned her son and how she worried that we wouldn't love him like we loved his sister and that he'd never have anything like that. I looked at her, tears welling in my eyes and I said "How can we not love him? He's her brother!" And that was it. I was done. I loved him. He was a part of me.

I wonder what kind of man he will become. He is so smart and gets the gospel. He remembers everything and can be so amazingly kind and loving, it just blows me away. I wonder when and how he will get saved and if I'll get to be a part of that. I wonder if he'll be tall and if I'll get to babysit his children.

I pray he will be a great man, a godly man, a kind man. I pray God will keep him for a godly woman and give him a great heritage. I pray he will never lose his amazing laugh or his desire to know things. I pray God will save him young and spare him from all the things I fear await him out there in the wide world. And, when I pray, I also thank God for bringing him to our family. I can't remember what we were like before him and I can't imagine our family without him.

I love you, Dudler.

Quote

Satan is ever seeking to inject that poison into our hearts to distrust God's goodness - especially in connection with his commandments. That is what really lies behind all evil, lusting and disobedience. A discontent with our position and portion, a craving from something which God has wisely held from us. Reject any suggestion that God is unduly severe with you. Resist with the utmost abhorrence anything that causes you to doubt God's love and his lovingkindness toward you. Allow nothing to make you question the Father's love for his child. --Arthur W. Pink

'Nother One.

So...I started another blog. It will not replace this one. It is just a place for me to post things that are not as "deep and thought provoking" as the things I post here.

Note: my tongue was firmly planted in cheek as I typed that.

Anyway, here's the link: http://lifeofamadfatwoman.blogspot.com/

"It must be well"

Reader, if God has given you His only begotten Son, beware of doubting His
kindness and love, in any painful providence of your daily life! Never allow
yourself to think hard thoughts of God. Never suppose that He can give you
anything which is not really for your good. Remember the words of Paul: ‘He who spared not His own Son - but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things’ (Romans 8:32).

See in every sorrow and trouble of your earthly pilgrimage the hand of Him
who gave Christ to die for your sins! That hand can never smite you except in
love! He who gave His only begotten Son for you, will never withhold anything from you which is really for your good. Lean back on this thought and be content. Say to yourself in the darkest hour of trial, ‘This also is ordered by Him who gave Christ to die for my sins. It cannot be wrong. It is done in love. It must be well.’ -- J.C. Ryle

It must be well. It MUST be well. IT MUST BE WELL. Not because I deserve it to be well or have earned favor or it is right or fair or reasonable...it must be well because "He who gave His only begotton Son...will never withhold anything ...which is really for [my] good."

It must be well.

Christ is the seal and guarantee of that promise.

Amen.

HT: GirlTalk

Things I'm thankful for: Psalm 103:9-10

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him (Psalm 103:9-10)


I think there are moments in every believer's life when there is the temptation to think that some event or circumstance is punishment from God. It happened to me just yesterday. A situation I thought was certain suddenly didn't look that way and immediately, I thought of all the reasons why it was right of God to deny a "favorable" outcome or withhold this thing from me. That might not sound all that sinful on the surface. It might sound like I'm rightfully acknowledging God's sovereignty and right to say "no" to things. But in my heart, I was believing God was against me...that he was dealing with me according to my sins. This is a lie. Because of Christ, I will never know what it is like to be on the receiving end of God's wrath. Because of Christ I can know that all things work together for my good and God's glory. Because of Christ, I can know that whatever my circumstances, God remembers me and is for me and is showing His steadfast love toward me. Even when or if He says "no" to something I want very badly. His no is not punishment but protection, not and expression of his unhappiness with me but an expression of His love and care, not a withholding of His best but of something that might stand in the way of His best.

He does not deal with us according to our sins...
What a promise!
What a comfort!