We had a massive snow storm Tuesday night, which caused my birthday (yesterday) to be an enjoyable Snow Day for the kids and I. I really couldn't have thought of a more fun way to play than Just Dance on the Wii, building Snow Forts and sledding!
All the extra exertion has me once again (though not in a melancholy way) considering the frailty and impermanence of our physical beings. This seems to be something that Christ, Peter and especially Paul understood to its fullest degree.
"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparision, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
My outer woman is wasting away and yet I cling to the hope that my desire to taste and see the glory of God will be renewed day by day.
Oh God, may this be the thing that this temporal body strives for above all seen pleasures!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Cold for Cold, Ache for Ache
I got the pleasure this week of catching my sons cold, which came with all the fun aches, sore throat, fatigue and itchy nose that one could want....
"Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to Satan, 'Where have you come from?'
Then Satan answered the Lord and said, 'From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.' The Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.'
Satan answered the Lord and said, 'Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.'
So the Lord said to Satan, ' Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.'
Then Satan went out fromt he presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his food to the crown of his head." Job 2:1-7 (all excerpts from the NASB, italics added for emphasis)
In my current state of desiring to live a life that conforms to 1 Corinthians 10:31, I really thought that I would be fasting and dealing with more the food side of understanding doing everything for His glory.
But in the last couple of weeks, He continues to remind me of the obvious frailty and decline of my 27 year old body. Between chronic minor ailments (vision loss, hearing loss, issues of the female system) and now this cold I'm wrestling with my flesh which would like to go the non-glorifying route. By that I mean with my achiness and fatigue I chose the path of least resistance by laying on the couch and bed and completely checking out of reality by movies and TV. I could have spent that time reveling in an expository sermon or reading the Word, but I justified it to myself by saying my brain couldn't focus well.
Really? That little cold took your focus afield?
Yes, yes it did and that brought home to me the reality that I have to continue to fight to revel in Him above all these minor worldly escapes. My goodness, if a cold can derail my brain in my late 20s, I'm in big trouble the older I get!!
"Then his wife said to him, 'Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!'
But he said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?' In all this, Job did not sin with his lips." Job 2:9-10
So, should I accept good and not the adversity (minor as it is) which will bring about more of His savoriness to me? May it never be to my life, and dear sister, may it never be in yours.
"Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to Satan, 'Where have you come from?'
Then Satan answered the Lord and said, 'From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.' The Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.'
Satan answered the Lord and said, 'Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.'
So the Lord said to Satan, ' Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.'
Then Satan went out fromt he presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his food to the crown of his head." Job 2:1-7 (all excerpts from the NASB, italics added for emphasis)
In my current state of desiring to live a life that conforms to 1 Corinthians 10:31, I really thought that I would be fasting and dealing with more the food side of understanding doing everything for His glory.
But in the last couple of weeks, He continues to remind me of the obvious frailty and decline of my 27 year old body. Between chronic minor ailments (vision loss, hearing loss, issues of the female system) and now this cold I'm wrestling with my flesh which would like to go the non-glorifying route. By that I mean with my achiness and fatigue I chose the path of least resistance by laying on the couch and bed and completely checking out of reality by movies and TV. I could have spent that time reveling in an expository sermon or reading the Word, but I justified it to myself by saying my brain couldn't focus well.
Really? That little cold took your focus afield?
Yes, yes it did and that brought home to me the reality that I have to continue to fight to revel in Him above all these minor worldly escapes. My goodness, if a cold can derail my brain in my late 20s, I'm in big trouble the older I get!!
"Then his wife said to him, 'Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!'
But he said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?' In all this, Job did not sin with his lips." Job 2:9-10
So, should I accept good and not the adversity (minor as it is) which will bring about more of His savoriness to me? May it never be to my life, and dear sister, may it never be in yours.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Quote of the Week
"People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa...Away with the word in such a view, and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us (Romans 8:18). I never made a sacrifice."
David Livingstone December 4, 1857
Speech to students at Cambridge University
So hard to keep this reality at the fore of my brain in light of the daily "conveniences and charities" here in my land and my home. I'm catching glimpses of the absolute savoriness of His Words above all else and I envy people like Livingstone who seem to hold this truth so much tighter than I can currently.
May You continue to cause me to taste and see that You, and only You, are good!
David Livingstone December 4, 1857
Speech to students at Cambridge University
So hard to keep this reality at the fore of my brain in light of the daily "conveniences and charities" here in my land and my home. I'm catching glimpses of the absolute savoriness of His Words above all else and I envy people like Livingstone who seem to hold this truth so much tighter than I can currently.
May You continue to cause me to taste and see that You, and only You, are good!
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