hope-mystery-truth

"But this I call to mind,

and therefore I have hope;

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is Your faithfulness.

'The LORD is my Portion,' says my soul,

'therefore I will hope in Him.'

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,

to the soul who seeks Him."

(Lamentations 3:21-25)

"He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Also, He has put eternity into man's heart,

yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."

(Ecclesiastes 3:11)

"What are these deep feelings of failure and fear?

They are the merciful gift of God telling us that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

...God has made a way for Himself to be both just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."

(John Piper)

ἐκεῖνον δεῖ αὐξάνειν, ἐμὲ δὲ ἐλαττοῦσθαι

The only thing I benefit from by looking at myself is seeing my frailty...my depravity.  When I see this reality I remember - it is not about me.  I stop and I remember Who my God is.

So I started a little project for myself in the midst of dealing with [stuff I'm dealing with].  I keep a stack of Post-It notes and a Sharpie handy, and every time I begin to get overwhelmed, instead of putting up verses on my walls that tell me what to do (while those are good reminders, they drive me to legalism and self-condemnation), I am simply writing out "GOD is ____."

Today - and always: He is sovereign.  He is loving.

**additional reflection 20130722@00:55**

I want to hold more tightly to the Cross in [this].

[This] should not drive me to respond any differently than I have before.  Though, I hope it will force me to respond more rightly.

God is unchanging.  Unchanging.  If I go to Him, and if I respond to [this] in light of Who He is - should my response not be the same in [this] as in everything? Both in what often I call "bad" or "good," both in what I call "days of grace" and those days I take grace for granted.

God, be.