Reason #245
This has been a long week. The longest week I've had in a while. I feel like at least 2 weeks were crammed into this one. It was an emotionally taxing week, too. So I'm incredibly thankful it's Friday. I'm thankful for a comfortable bed and a quite house, and especially thankful that my alarm will not be buzzing before the sun rises.
Sometimes, although it is rare, I have a hard time putting my feelings into words. Maybe it's because there are too many words to choose from and it's too hard to pick the right word. Tonight is one of those rare moments. Words and feelings are pulsing through my brain but I can't seem to pin down the right one, the best one to describe how I feel because this strange combination of anxiety and anticipation is flooding my mind. I would be lying if I didn't say that sadness is not too far behind and I just don't like it. Simple as that. But I've well learned that I won't always like everything in life.
So today was the end of a chapter. The closing of a book, not only for myself but for many others. They say that all good things must come to an end. But why is that? Because it doesn't make sense, in my mind, to end a good thing. But it happens, it happened, and so it's time to move on.
"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." - Romans 8:26-28
And so I don't know. I don't know what to say, what to pray, what to expect. Mixed emotions make it hard to get the right words out, but I do know this. He does cause everything to work together for the good. Sometimes, it's hard to see the good right away. Sometimes, it takes the good a while to obviously appear. But for those who love Him, who serve Him and do His will, He makes all things work together for the good. And so we don't have to know. We don't have to articulate it in one particular form or the other because He knows our hearts. Our confused hearts, our sad hearts, our concerned hearts, He knows them well. And He cares for them, for each beating heart. Each one given a purpose, a purpose that is revealed through the seasons and changes of life. A purpose that unravels through the ups and the downs.
So I believe these words tonight. Truth that I've seen with my own eyes, witnessed it my own life. The truth that He does cause everything, I mean everything, to work together for the good, for my good. Not just some things, certain things, particular things, but everything! Hard things, sad things, trying things, difficult things, confusing things, happy things, new things, old things. There isn't a thing He won't use to bring about goodness in the lives of His beloved children.
So I'm grateful to serve a God who takes the broken things, the things that have fallen apart, things lying in pieces, things we don't want to let go of, and He uses them to bring about good. We may not know how He'll do it things, when He will do it, or even what it could possibly be. But our God loves us too much to give us anything less that the best, and I'm forever grateful that He is, and has always, been a man of His word.
And like the old addage says, "When one door closes, another one opens..." So I suppose we'll see what's behind the next one.
#245 - Because there isn't a thing He can't use to bring about goodness.
"I will tell of the LORD’s unfailing love. I will praise the LORD for all he has done. I will rejoice in his great goodness..." - Isaiah 63:7
Sometimes, although it is rare, I have a hard time putting my feelings into words. Maybe it's because there are too many words to choose from and it's too hard to pick the right word. Tonight is one of those rare moments. Words and feelings are pulsing through my brain but I can't seem to pin down the right one, the best one to describe how I feel because this strange combination of anxiety and anticipation is flooding my mind. I would be lying if I didn't say that sadness is not too far behind and I just don't like it. Simple as that. But I've well learned that I won't always like everything in life.
So today was the end of a chapter. The closing of a book, not only for myself but for many others. They say that all good things must come to an end. But why is that? Because it doesn't make sense, in my mind, to end a good thing. But it happens, it happened, and so it's time to move on.
"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." - Romans 8:26-28
And so I don't know. I don't know what to say, what to pray, what to expect. Mixed emotions make it hard to get the right words out, but I do know this. He does cause everything to work together for the good. Sometimes, it's hard to see the good right away. Sometimes, it takes the good a while to obviously appear. But for those who love Him, who serve Him and do His will, He makes all things work together for the good. And so we don't have to know. We don't have to articulate it in one particular form or the other because He knows our hearts. Our confused hearts, our sad hearts, our concerned hearts, He knows them well. And He cares for them, for each beating heart. Each one given a purpose, a purpose that is revealed through the seasons and changes of life. A purpose that unravels through the ups and the downs.
So I believe these words tonight. Truth that I've seen with my own eyes, witnessed it my own life. The truth that He does cause everything, I mean everything, to work together for the good, for my good. Not just some things, certain things, particular things, but everything! Hard things, sad things, trying things, difficult things, confusing things, happy things, new things, old things. There isn't a thing He won't use to bring about goodness in the lives of His beloved children.
So I'm grateful to serve a God who takes the broken things, the things that have fallen apart, things lying in pieces, things we don't want to let go of, and He uses them to bring about good. We may not know how He'll do it things, when He will do it, or even what it could possibly be. But our God loves us too much to give us anything less that the best, and I'm forever grateful that He is, and has always, been a man of His word.
And like the old addage says, "When one door closes, another one opens..." So I suppose we'll see what's behind the next one.
#245 - Because there isn't a thing He can't use to bring about goodness.
"I will tell of the LORD’s unfailing love. I will praise the LORD for all he has done. I will rejoice in his great goodness..." - Isaiah 63:7