music :: worship :: life
Father, your presence in my life this week has been powerful—even overbearing, sometimes, and not always welcome. One thing you showed me is that I could give, and should give, and can afford to give much more—that I can tithe, and more than tithe. You were with me as I freed myself of piles of useless possessions that have been cluttering my life, holding me down, getting in my way. As I struggled with the disintegration of my plans for this past year, the same scripture showed up over and over again—in a book, in the sermon, in a DVD lecture, in an article online. Over and over again, the same scripture from Jeremiah 29:11:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Your plans are not my plans. Your plans cannot be squeezed into some arbitrary timetable set by me—this year or that year, by this month or that.
You were present when a woman stayed behind to talk about the baby she lost 24 years ago, and how the hurt never really goes away. I sensed your presence, too, through the kindness of friends, through their conversation, their emails, their phone calls.
I sensed your presence as I wrote checks to the Salvation Army and other charities—how strange to be filled with joy at giving away money.
Father, you have shown me, through the course I completed, that my mind is still sharp and capable. God, you have shown me so much—that I have so much. I compare myself with the people around me who have so much more than I. Of the people I know, I am surely the poorest. Yet I have so much more than I need.
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