Praise the Lord, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name,
Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits--
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
-Psalm 103: 1-5
On Saturday morning, a few of my gals banged on the door of my apartment until I woke up. :) With sleep still in my eyes and dreams still fading, I agreed to go with them to Cooper's Rock--only one of the most beautiful places in the whole wide world!! It was sooo wonderful to get out in the fresh fall air (this is the best season, you know).
I have been thinking a lot about how God is not only Creator, but Re-creator. I love how beautifully the nature of our souls is reflected in nature. We all walk through valleys of doubt, grief, and despair...the leaves change and fall off of the trees, winter comes in (however beautifully) and silences the crickets and masks the colors of the fields and woodlands. Sometimes it seems endless. But THEN!
Spring. Redemption. Beauty. Rainbows of color. Ahh.
It never loses its breathtaking novelty! Neither do the truths God reveals in us after valley times of trial and waiting (and we wouldn't grow much without them, I reckon). Recently, he's been showing me how to rest in Him. I am not a woman of rest! BUT...I have been seeing that without first being filled with the highest love--my FIRST love-- I get exhausted in work for Him, because my own strength is weak, corrupt, and selfish. His is perfect.
They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
--Isaiah 40:31
It is impossible to get exhausted in work for God. We get exhausted because we try to do God's work in our own way.
--Oswald Chambers
God loves what in us is not yet. What has still to come to birth. What we love in a person is what already is: virtue, beauty, courage, and hence our love is self-interested and fragile. God, loving what is not yet and putting faith in us, continually begets us, since love is what begets. By giving us confidence, God helps us to be born, since love is what helps us emerge from our darkness and draws us to the light. And this is such a fine thing to do that God invites us to do the same
--Carlo Carretto
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another.
--2 Corinthians 3:18
sweet friends. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment