Turbulence is life force. It is opportunity. Let's love turbulence and use it for change. (Ramsay Clark)
It finally began to dawn on me that some of my most difficult experiences turned out in the end to have been my best experiences. Someone once made the comment, "I learn a lot from my failures; I don't learn anything from success." Howard Rutledge wrote a book (In the Presence of Mine Enemies) about his experiences as a former prisoner of War in Viet Nam. Rutledge made a comment, "For years Phyllis had encouraged me to join the family at church. But I was too preoccupied to spend one or two short hours a week thinking about the really important things." Then he made the following observation about his time in the prison camp:
Now the sights and smells of death were all around me. My hunger for spiritual food soon outdid my hunger for a steak. I wanted to know about that part of me that will never die, to talk about God and Christ and the church. But in Heartbreak solitary confinement there was no pastor, no Sunday school teacher, no Bible, no hymnbook, no community of believers to guide and sustain me. I had completely neglected the spiritual dimension of my life. It took prison to show me how empty life is without God.
I enjoy peacefulness, harmony, and comfort. I believe the Master provides these things for my enjoyment. Sometimes I can get along better without these good things, as Heaven would define "getting along." I need to know by experience that when the Master is dynamically in my life, then my life is never empty no matter what other blessings may be missing.
A person of genuine faith should relish challenges because they provide opportunities for grace to work in wonderful ways. Oswald Chambers made the following comment about the Apostle Paul's confident assertion, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us":
Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them. Let's apply that to our own circumstances. The things we try to avoid and fight against — tribulation, suffering, and persecution — are the very things that produce abundant joy in us. "We are more than conquerors through Him..., in all these things"; not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. A saint doesn't know the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. Paul said, "I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulations."
I'm so grateful for the love of God that enfolds me and gives me wonderful treasures of peace and comfort. I'm even more grateful for His gifts of grace that can transform my turbulent times into marvelous testimonies of His power.
Heavenly Father: Thanks for the power of your presence that brings light, joy, and growth into every night, no matter how deep the darkness.
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Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues,
but the parent of all others. (Cicero) |
My wife told me about Oprah's belief that everyone should keep a gratitude journal; that we ought to make deliberate note of the many things we should be grateful for each day.
Oprah was right!
Robert Browning wrote the famous lines, "God is in heaven, and all is right with the world."
I'll admit those words are sometimes difficult.
I'm sure those words are true.
I've discovered (along with millions of other people) that maintaining awareness of Heaven's generosity opens my heart to receive the many gifts that continually shower down upon me.
I feel so blessed that I can hardly express myself!
I am so grateful for my family and friends; for my work, my church, and for my life that I can hardly put it into words.
But I feel compelled to try. The thoughts below are my attempts to do so.
Will you join me in giving thanks? (Feel free to drop me a line and tell me what you are grateful for. I'm don@110mag.com.)
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To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant,
to enact gratitude is generous and noble, to live gratitude is to touch heaven. (Johannes A. Gaertner) |
Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous fall.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.
Matthew 6:31-32
So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."