Running for Another

29 Wednesday Mar 2017

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Arkansas Run for the Fallen, Christian life, honoring fallen soldiers, Reflections, Run for the Fallen, Running, running for another, running for Jesus, Soli Deo Gloria

I’m one of those crazy types that actually enjoys running. Once upon a time I even looked like a runner.

Over the years, running has filled several important roles for me: it’s been a way of escape, a way to burn off energy, to get or stay in shape, to cope, to get alone and talk to God, to enjoy sunshine and wildlife, to improve my running time, to compete, to show off, to win.

Admittedly, some of those are more virtuous motivations than others.

But this past Saturday I had an opportunity to run for a very different reason.

My local women’s running clinic was invited to participate in the sixth annual Arkansas Run for the Fallen, an apolitical 146-mile weekend-long event honoring service men and women who died in the line of duty since September 11, 2001. Our part was to join the team of running soldiers for one mile through the middle of town.

In the weeks leading up to the event, I thought about it quite a bit. I read the stories of the two Navy SEALs who would be remembered at the Hero Markers at the beginning and end of our course. I thought about my own grandparents and aunt and uncle who served in the Army Air Force and in the Navy.

And I felt quite small and pampered by comparison. Not exactly worthy to be running with people who have taken on so much personal risk for something bigger than themselves–or for people who have quite literally laid down their lives for others.

When Saturday came and our red-shirted local ladies assembled, the anticipation we all felt was a strange mix of excitement and sobriety. Soon the running servicemen arrived, paused to remember one fallen comrade, planted a flag in his name, and then we were off.

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The usual “racer’s mindset” tried to assume its place in my thoughts, but there wasn’t any room for it. No room for looking ahead to see who you’re going to try to pass next–that wasn’t the goal. No room for pulling away from the crowd–the purpose this time was to get lost in the crowd, in the small sea of red. No room for going at your own pace–we had to keep pace with those who were leading us on. No room for thinking about how to position yourself for the best finish so you could point to your rank or time in the end–this run was intended to point to someone else.

It’s easy to get comfortable in our lives here in the West and forget that the blessings we enjoy have been paid for by others. So too as Christians, we can lose sight of the fact that our greatest, eternal blessings have been paid for by the Lord Jesus Himself. Sometimes our normal routines need to be shaken up a bit to give us new perspective.

That’s exactly what happened for me on Saturday. This whole experience has refreshed my view of the race set before us as Christians.

We “run with endurance” remembering those who have gone on before us and with our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-4).

We encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11) and cheer each other on rather than treating the gospel of God’s grace as a program for self-advancement and our fellow runners as competitors.

We “keep in step with [His] Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-26)–He sets the pace for us to follow, not the other way around.

Our run on Saturday morning lasted less than ten minutes, but the impact of running to honor someone else has been felt all week. And while my legs have been resting, the words of John the baptist have continued to run through my head: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

Let Him be seen as I run this race called life. Not me.

In a world that preaches so often that we are the most useful or influential when we place ourselves on a pedestal to be seen by others, we need to be reminded that it’s ok, right even, to live outside of the spotlight, to blend in with the crowd of those who live–who run–not for themselves, but for the glory and honor of Another.

Soli Deo gloria.

Signs of Spring

01 Wednesday Mar 2017

Posted by Lauren Scott in Living Faith

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Tags

Flowers, Nature, Nature Studies, new growth, Signs of Spring, Spring, Spring in Arkansas

For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies:

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light:

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above;
For all gentle thoughts and mild:

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thy Church that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love:

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thyself, best gift divine,
To our race so freely given;
For that great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth and joy in heaven:

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the Beauty of the Earth by Folliott S. Pierpoint, adapted text

Learning from My Children: To Dance Like David

28 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by Lauren Scott in Home and Family, Living Faith

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boys, children, dancing before the Lord, dancing for joy, dancing like David, Joy, Learning from my Children, meditations, motherhood, Music, parenting, Reflections, worship

https://i0.wp.com/www.jesuswalk.com/david/images/tissot-david-dancing-before-the-ark-640x444.jpg

“David Dancing before the Ark” by James Tissot. The ephod might have been a simple robe like this, or it might have been a loincloth.

Last night as I was making dinner I put on a Fernando Ortega CD.

My seven-year-old began moving to the music, something reminiscent of interpretive dance and ballet, though he has had no instruction and has seriously no chance at all of picking up such graceful moves from his parents.

At the end of “All Creatures of our God and King” my son announced that he wanted to dance to that song for next year’s talent show.

My initial reaction was less than enthusiastic. I’m a rather reserved person. I’d be somewhat embarrassed for him if he did something like that, something so…so…contrary to our culture’s gender stereotypes. I wouldn’t want him to be labeled or made fun of.

And then it hit me: I was responding in my mind like Michal did to David.

Are you familiar with the story?

And David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.

Then it happened as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

My precious boy was dancing before the Lord, in jeans and no shirt, joyfully moving his feet and lifting his hands to heaven, rejoicing in a song of praise that he has long loved. Not unlike David danced before the Lord to celebrate the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.

And I was thinking about what other people would think of it if they saw it. Not unlike Michal, who despised David for his exuberant worship and criticized him with biting sarcasm.

My son wasn’t the one missing something–I was.

“I will celebrate before the Lord,” David responded. “I will be more lightly esteemed than this!”

Oh for the freedom to express our love for the Lord, giving Him the worship that He is due without allowing the fear of man to hinder us.

Am I willing to be undignified in the views of the world? Am I willing to come to God as a joyful child? Without reserve? Without concern?

Am I willing to give my children the freedom to do so?

My boy may not remember this idea by the time the talent show comes around next year, but I at least am taking his example to heart.

Has the Lord ever taught you a lesson through the simple, unreserved faith of your children? Please share in the comments below!

A Morning Prayer

24 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by Lauren Scott in Living Faith

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Tags

A Morning Prayer, Nature Studies, Prayer, Prayers, Receiving from the Lord

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O Father,

How great is Your goodness and Your lovingkindness!

Help me today to receive from Your hand

all that You have for me:

the forgiveness and love secured for me by Jesus Your Son,

the grace and strength needed for every moment’s calling,

the disappointments and interruptions that test my faith,

the glimpses of beauty and pictures of truth You provide in their midst,

the confident expectation and hope of all that You have promised,

the peace that passes understanding,

the fruit of Your Holy Spirit as You work to produce it in me.

O Father,

May I humble myself to receive all that You have for me this day

with open heart and hands

with full assurance of faith

cherishing Your love,

and knowing You are good.

Amen.

COPYRIGHT 2017 LAUREN SCOTT

The Word Became Flesh, Part Three

23 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by Lauren Scott in Living Faith

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Advent, Christmas, God with us, Jesus, John chapter one, Word became flesh, Word of God

This is the final post in a series on the Incarnation with meditations from John chapter one. Read the rest of the series here: Intro, Part One, Part Two.

It’s interesting to think that if there is a personal God who is jealous for our worship, and if Jesus is anything less than God, we Christians are in a world of hurt for worshiping Him as God. And yet, if His claims are true–if Jesus really is Emmanuel, God with us, then we are equally as bad off if we reject Him in favor of worshiping only the Father, as the Jews of Jesus’ day were inclined to do.

He came to His own and His own did not receive Him.

To worship a mere man is preposterous. Indeed it is treasonous. And to bow down before a tiny baby as the magi did is laughable.

Unless somehow God becomes a man. Unless somehow that baby was more than just a baby.

But if we stop to think about the incarnation, and if we’re honest with ourselves, it’s about the most unthinkable thing, isn’t it? The only way we can reckon it even being possible is to say that “with God all things are possible” and that “He does whatever He pleases”.

So often people seem to meditate on the fact that God would become a baby. We’re reminded of the smallness of His stature, the utter dependence upon His mother, the poverty of His earthly family.

But the marvel of the incarnation is not so much in the tininess of the Infant nor in the lowliness of His socioeconomic status, as consequential as these may seem to us, but rather that He would become human at all.

Would we lose our wonder if He had indeed walked upon the scene as a fully-grown, handsome, rich, powerful ruler? Those earthly things might impress us, but they don’t impress God. The gap between the rich and poor, the greatest and the weakest of our world as it is applied to the birth of Christ is a rather silly consideration in light of the infinite gap between the majesty, sufficiency, and immensity of our Creator and mankind’s collective vulgarity, dependence, and feeble littleness.

His humility and condescension would have been on display even if He had come as the most impressive of men, simply for having clothed Himself with flesh and blood.

But we are a bit dense and our values quite backwards, so in keeping with the lowliness of becoming like us, He showed us that the Mighty One of heaven needed nothing of earthly riches, power, or glory. He was content to empty Himself of the heavenly riches, power, and glory so that He might be like those He came to save.

We see in Jesus, the Word of God, all the perfections of character that are in God Himself; we see what it means to be Emmanuel, God with us. And we see what it means to be a truly great human being–in the only human life with which God is well pleased. His is a greatness so far beyond our reach that in the light of the incarnation and the life of Jesus Christ on earth, we see our desperate need for God to enter into our dark mess in order to pull us out of it.

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. Isaiah 9:2

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.

And so He came. The glory, the humility of the incarnation is not so much that Jesus was born small and poor, but that He was born into our world at all.

And so we are invited to come. And see. And receive. And worship this One to whom not only the wise men but also the angels of heaven bow down.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Merry Christmas.

The Word Became Flesh, Part Two

22 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by Lauren Scott in Living Faith

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Advent, Christmas, Jesus, John chapter one, Word became flesh, Word of God

This is Part Two in a series of meditations on the incarnation from John chapter one. If you are new to the series, check out the Intro and Part One.

How are we to know God? Psalm 19 describes how the heavens are telling the glory of God, and how His word works in the heart of man. Psalm 119 is another ode to the word of God, while Psalm 104 praises the Lord for His creation. Romans 1 teaches that His invisible attributes are seen in all that He has made.

And yet…

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…

The Creator now converges with creation. The Infinite enters into finitude. God becomes a man.

But unlike the written word of God which is powerful and yet not personal, and unlike the Creation which reveals aspects of God’s nature but is not inhabited by Him in any sort of pantheistic sense–no, unlike how God had revealed Himself in His word and in Creation, He has now revealed Himself in a Man–in whom all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9). This cosmic intertwining of the spiritual with the material, the eternal with the temporal, is the chief way in which God has chosen to reveal Himself.

“He’s a person not a plan,” Michael Card reminds us. Jesus isn’t just a ticket into heaven. He’s the reason you want to be there, the One who created you, the One with whom your soul, if awakened, longs to be.

Jesus isn’t just a means to an end, but He is Himself the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega.

How does this impact the way we view that Babe in the manger, so seemingly small, so apparently needy?

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…

Have you caught your breath yet?

More tomorrow…

Part Three

The Word Became Flesh, Part One

21 Wednesday Dec 2016

Posted by Lauren Scott in Living Faith

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Advent, Christmas, Jesus, Lamb of God, meditations, Son of God, Word became flesh, Word of God

This is Part One in a Series of meditations on the incarnation from John chapter one. If you missed the intro post, you can find it here.

Jesus is the Word of God. I’ve been meditating on John chapter one for a while now (months, actually), and I can’t get passed this description.

Words are essential to clear communication. But written words alone can’t always give us a completely accurate picture. Ever sent an email that was completely misinterpreted by someone because your tone and inflection was taken in a totally unintended way?

In Jesus we have a picture of what God is like and who He is–in words, in deeds, in emotion, everything. We don’t exactly have a visual because we are those who believe without having actually seen Him (1 Peter 1:8, John 20:29). (Cheesy nativity scene pictures admittedly don’t help, but alas I have succumbed.) Nothing seen can truly define the unseen God anyway. Maybe that’s why the bible didn’t come complete with an inspired painting of the Lord.

Still, in Jesus Christ, we have the ultimate representation, the ultimate communication about God.

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. Hebrews 1:1-3

This Word was not only spoken or written, but it was translated into real, live humanity. To be seen. To be touched. To be felt. To be heard.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

But more than a mere representation, more than just a communication, the scripture demonstrates that this Word has been around since the beginning. This Word was with God. This Word was God. Emmanuel, God with us, isn’t just a platitude or a nice meaning for a nice person’s name. It describes the very essence of the incarnation itself.

It tells us who Jesus is.

More to come tomorrow. But for now, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Have you ever longed for God to show Himself to you? Second Corinthians 4:6 says “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” How does this compare with the description of Jesus in John chapter one? How does this meet our longing, at times, to see God?

Part Two Part Three

The Word Became Flesh: A Short Series of Meditations on the Incarnation from John Chapter One

20 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by Lauren Scott in Living Faith

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Advent, Christmas, Jesus, John chapter one, Lamb of God, meditations, Son of God, the Incarnation, Word became flesh, Word of God

The opening of the Gospel of John is a grand invitation to “come and see” who this Jesus, this “Word” and “Light” and “Son of God”, is. The first sentences to leave the apostle’s pen are some of the most poetic and yet absolute statements about Christ in all of scripture:

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things came into being through Him,

and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

Three verses, six strong assertions. They are foundational statements–not merely about this man Jesus, but also about the nature of God Himself and the relationship of Jesus to all of Creation.

This isn’t a passage to gloss over. It is rich with grandeur. To simply nod and move on doesn’t seem right. I have to weigh these statements because they are heavy.

Who is this Jesus? Do I believe the things John is saying about Him? Do I also accept the testimony of John the Baptist that “this is the Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”?

The apostle John says that “His own did not receive Him.” Jesus warns in the Sermon on the Mount that few actually believe and follow Him. And so I have to ask myself these questions and not rush past them. I have to take time to ponder, to let it all sink in.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)

So the invitation is to come and see–and believe. Come and see–and become a child of God. Come and see–and receive grace upon grace.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

I invite you to join me in meditating on the incarnation over the next few days leading up to Christmas. Let us sit for a while in John chapter one as we prepare to welcome and celebrate the One who has come and is coming again.

Part One Part Two Part Three

Great Joy

07 Wednesday Dec 2016

Posted by Lauren Scott in Living Faith

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Advent, Christmas, G. K. Chesterton, Great Joy, Jesus, Journaling, Joy, Music, Reflections, Rejoice

This is a journal entry from a few weeks ago that seemed appropriate given the theme of joy that characterizes the Advent and Christmas season (or the painful lack of joy some suffer more acutely at this time of year). I hope that this will encourage and strengthen your heart as it has mine.

Creative Joy

There’s a GK Chesterton quote I have written in my home management binder that got me thinking the other day…

Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again’; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

In Genesis we read that God created everything. And He said it was good.

As humans we delight in our own creative works—how much more, then, does God?

If our greatest project to date is broken or corrupted, if our best artwork goes unappreciated, we may lose heart, but even though God’s good creation has been broken and corrupted by sin and unappreciated by His creatures, He does not lose heart. He is being creative still in working all things together according to His will and pleasure. Like a master chess player takes great joy and delight in taking whatever move his opponent makes and using it to his advantage. Or how a composer uses all the instruments, notes, dynamics, and dissonance to make a beautiful piece of music. Contrary to how I might imagine Him at times, God has great joy! He isn’t some brooding but somehow benevolent grandpa in the sky. He is a divine, cosmic orchestrator, enjoying and delighting in His own work!

Contagious Joy

Psalm 16 ends with a rather exuberant declaration:

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

At one time in my life I read this verse and thought that the joy to be found in God’s presence was in the heart of the creature delighting in God, but my view was strained because while I had imagined that those who are in God’s presence must somehow be moved to great joy, I still imagined God Himself as somehow still quite austere, even stoic and grave. But that is not how the scriptures paint Him. He is holy and righteous. But He is also love and peace and delight.

If the believer’s love to God is made possible because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and because He Himself IS love (v. 16), then it seems quite plausible that our joy and delight in Him stems from His own joy and delight in Himself and in His works.

If joy and laughter are contagious, as I am told, then our joy in the presence of God need not be somehow mustered up within us—we need only to see Him as He is, and then we will be like Him (1 John 3:1-3).

As for this side of eternity, where we do not currently see the Lord face to face, we have this promise from Jesus in John 17: “these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.” He has given us His word for our joy in this life—not merely as a tool so that we can conjure up our own joy, but so that we would have His joy made full in us.

All of these meditations brought this hymn to mind. I particularly like the arrangement found here.

Thou lovely Source of true delight,
Whom I unseen adore;
Unveil Thy beauties to my sight,
That I may love Thee more.

Thy glory o’er creation shines;
But in Thy sacred Word,
I read in fairer, brighter lines,
My bleeding, dying Lord.

’Tis here, whene’er my comforts droop,
And sins and sorrows rise,
Thy love with cheerful beams of hope,
My fainting heart supplies.

Jesus, my Lord, my Life, my Light,
O come with blissful ray;
Break radiant through the shades of night,
And chase my fears away.

Then shall my soul with rapture trace
The wonders of Thy love;
But the full glories of Thy face
Are only known above.

Continual Joy

God is not merely unmoved or unsurprised when things on earth seem chaotic, upended, or just plain bad. Our blessed God is joyfully working out His plans through it all. He is delighting in His children, His creation; and He rejoices when a wayward one comes home to Him through faith and repentance (Luke 15:7). Though God hates and grieves our sin, and though He sympathizes with our weaknesses and even weeps with those who are broken, no tragedy on earth will steal away His joy—nor, by extension, our joy if it is rooted in Him.

As you hold fast to your faith in Christ, through this season and the years to come, may you serve Him with gladness, awaiting with expectation the day when you hear, “Well done…enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21)

Rejoice! And be glad!

These are my own meditations and not meant as a thorough treatment of this subject. If you want a much better biblical analysis of this topic (seriously, so much better), check out this article at Bible.org: The Joy of God. I found this article as I was getting ready to post my own and loved it!

A Drop from a Bucket

08 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by Lauren Scott in Living Faith

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Be Still My Soul, Clinton, Drop from a bucket, Election 2016, Election Day, Election Day 2016, God is big, God's patience, Hope in this election, Isaiah 40, Judging, judgment, justice, mercy, November 8, Political Angst, political apathy, Trump, trusting God with the future, Voting Day

Today is Voting Day in the United States of America. And it feels rather anticlimactic.

I’m really quite over this year’s campaign cycle with all of its scandal and intrigue. I already voted last week. And I get to watch a little cutie participate in his first spelling bee tonight instead of watching the results, so I couldn’t be more content.

Writing a blog post about Election Day was not on my to-do list.

But as I meditated on God’s word yesterday morning, I noticed a few things that I hope will be an encouragement to those still in the throes of political angst and fear.

Isaiah 40:15 says:

Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

My husband and I (along with countless other believers throughout the ages) have loved Isaiah chapter 40 for the way it weighs things on God’s scales in order to give us a hint at just how big God is and how tiny we (and all of our cares) really are.

If “the nations” (meaning far more than just the US of A) are like a drop from a bucket, a speck of dust on the scales, then how much do you think a single leader from a single country affects God? I’m inclined to think He’s not impressed by them in the slightest and wouldn’t even take notice of them except that He chooses to.

This means that none of what is happening right now moves God—none of it surprises Him or causes Him concern as though He would think, “Oh no, how will My plans prevail now?”

Not even the “most powerful man [or woman] on earth” shows up on His scales.

And yet He condescends to care for the lowly. Chew on that for a moment. Or a lifetime.

Even when we know these things it’s still hard sometimes not to wonder at God’s apparent “absence” from the affairs of men. Why won’t He stand in the way when the wicked are rising to power? Why won’t He bring justice swiftly?

Sometimes I think we don’t quite know what we’re asking for. These are hard questions, and their answers are ultimately beyond my ability to give, but I do know that God has promised to bring justice one day.

God’s tarrying, His apparent restraint of His power in the here-and-now, is due to His great patience, as we see in 2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise [to bring final judgment and restoration], as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

And let’s not forget that following the depravity described in Romans chapter one we find this challenging question in chapter two:

Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

So how many of the wicked, corrupt leaders of our day is He planning on bringing to repentance? There is some hope for them in God’s patience—and if for them, how much more for the common man?

When we beg God for justice against the wicked, we are asking for Him to bring His judgment—a relief to those who trust Him, whose sins are forgiven … and the ultimate horror to those who do not, who persist in their sin and have not turned to Him. Romans 9:22-24 gives us just a peak into the relationship between God’s wrath and His patience, His justice and His mercy:

What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

God’s patience is a tremendous good to those who turn to Him, but it means greater judgment to those who continue to spurn Him and harden their hearts like Pharaoh did in the days of Moses.

Bringing this back down from the lofty heights of theology, how does this affect those of us twiddling our thumbs as we await tonight’s election results? I have a few questions for consideration:

Should God be patient, restraining Himself even when the wicked rise to power?

Or should He somehow “rig” our elections so that we can live as comfortably as possible?

Is there perhaps more at stake in His game plan than we can see from our limited vantage point?

Can a speck of a speck or a drop of a drop tell the One who uses the earth as a footstool how it should go down?

Does the worry of a grain of sand change the tides of the ocean?

I’m praying we can rest in the justice, mercy, and sheer hugeness of our great God.

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.