Trust

Inadequate gratitude.  Yup.  Gotta be.

I find myself not trusting the goodness I see in my circumstances at the moment.  It is easy to manufacture a story that contradicts what I see.

My mind is too available to lies.  I am not busy enough recognizing grace and mercy, and expressing gratitude.  Ingrate!

I am not an ingrate.  I just do not have gratitude habits.  No.  I do not have adequate gratitude habits.

Enough analysis.

Daddy, thank you for loving me with the Blood of Jesus.  Thank you, Father for redeeming me from the mire.  Thank you finding me when I was not even looking for you.  Thank you for holding me while I struggle to prove you are faithless.  Thank  you for refusing to let me go back to my idols.

Thank you for flooding my life with things to be grateful for, so I can develop better and better habits of gratitude.

Thanks, Daddy.

Shhh. Hush Now.

So much to be found on the other side of a quiet moment. Almost like I should dare you to be quiet for a whole minute. The truth comes out in that stillness. Maybe a truth you or I have never heard because we were never challenged or never brave enough to shut up, sit down, stop moving...and wait.

What if? What if the God you do not really want to know about really does talk to people he loves, like you. Gracious! What would you do if you invited Him to tell you how He feels about you, and then you waited until you heard him say? You would have to deal with what you heard.

I can ask this because I am not worried about what He would tell you. I know how he feels about you. But if you do not know, then you get to act anyway you want toward God. You get to respond to whatever you make up about Him. So you get to be in control of the image of God you have created, and of how you respond to this graven image. Ideal for you, except that you know your image of God is wrong. So your relationship with your idol never satisfies. You are still empty and aching for the glory that you know is in your destiny. You just keep missing the mark.

Shhh. Hush now. Be still long enough. If you are still for long enough, you will put away your noise forever. You will want, forever, to be quiet enough to never miss another word He has to say.

Holy Spirit, please put a seal on the ones who will dare to be loved.

Why does voting feel so right?

There must be something Godly in all of that good. It is strange to feel so good about participating in a republic when I live in a Kingdom.

Dad says a free republic is a good thing. Not the best thing, and inevitably a useful idol and an enemy of best...but good nonetheless. Oppressors can not feel this good doing their oppressive duty. Voting, going there and not being stopped, not being intimidated, not being warned how to vote, not being arrested for trying to vote, not being shot or beaten for daring to vote. These are all part of the story of what the USA is. There are lots of other days when there are signs that the USA is not what the story says it is. When I go to vote it is the one day every couple of years that says to me, "Yes, the story is true." The other day is the day when the losers leave without being ejected, and the winners come in without killing the incumbent, his family and his staff. That is another day that says to me, "Yes, the story is true."

The American story, the one that says America is exceptional, the one that says that something special really is happening here, has enemies. I think they will have to take away election day, and stop participating in a peaceful transition of power, to make the story a lie. At least for me.

Father, thank you for the USA.

Teachable is Important

Every misstep comes down to pride. At least for me. Like how it is easy to be teachable toward some, but not all people. I got humble enough yesterday to learn a lesson from someone I struggle with. Today the fruit of that learning was really sweet.

Pride is not only unacceptable, but it also does not work. At least for me. Humility, and its offspring teachable work much better. Now I can thank God for the lesson, and the humility...and I might even thank the teacher. That will be harder. And it also will likely bear more fruit.

One thing is very clear. When I am cuddling with pride, I find it hard to approach my Father. All of this stuff about good outcomes has to be secondary to adoration. Nothing wrong with good outcomes, but good is the enemy of perfect.

Father, I desire perfect intimacy with You. Forgive me for all of the times today that my eyes have turned to idols, that my heart has turned to idols.