Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Birthday Musings


Did you ever think, “I never thought I would live this lo-o-o-o-ng?” However, God knew it, and suddenly over half your life is behind you. It's an odd place to view things with your exit to Heaven much closer than your entrance to Earth.

If you are deeply honest, you can see you have made some great choices and some really bad ones. You can also see the sin in this broken world is truly a stumbling block. Praise God for taking all of it and making something beautiful of our lives!

When you mentally recount all the really difficult times in your past, you can also see how God intentionally grew you most as a disciple during those same times. Instead of tumultuous times, they were intense “go-to-God times”. You realized when the going got tough; you got going—to the arms of God. And why is it so? Because we are only strongest when we are weakest as the apostle Paul so aptly said.

Praise God in all things and give Him thanks for whatever part of your life you are living. His plan far surpasses any concoction we could ever cook up on our own. He’s our north star when everything in our earthly body is going south. Reminds me of this old hymn:

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” (Helen H. Limmel, 1922)

In more modern language, instead of focusing on your problems and glancing at God, focus on God and glance at your problems. Isn't it a relief to know when God is in the middle of it all, we are securely headed homeward?

Blessings and Agape,

Dr. Linda B. Greer