Paradox

I said yesterday that there was something not right; that Saturday hadn’t exactly been full of “good things.” So in my private prayers and in church Sunday, I was alert to hear what God wanted to say to me. The first word came in a song we sang at the beginning of the church service. “How could heaven’s heart not break on the day, the day that you came? Salvation’s reason to celebrate on the day, the day that you came. Gloria in excelsis deo, Gloria in excelsis deo.” The word I heard was this: heaven’s heart (i.e., God’s heart) is the big picture here. It’s not “all about me.” What’s going on in his heart? A good day is a day in which God is achieving his purposes. That would be every day. I think it’s okay to celebrate a day that’s filled with hundreds of good things that I experience. I think it’s also okay to have a day when I can’t even think of three. (Actually, if I merely counted all the potential symptoms I could be suffering as a result of the cancer and the kemo, I’d have a couple dozen bad things that didn’t happen, which equates to at least 24 good things, doesn’t it? Thank you, God. Thank you, friends, for praying.)

Then in the pastor’s message, which was about shifting allegiance to Jesus’ kingdom, he said the shift involves repentance, faith, receptivity, going public, and practice. The third, receptivity, grabbed my mind. This is crucial—to receive and live by the grace and provision Jesus gives. Otherwise we fall into the trap of trying to “do” the Christian life by ourselves.

Our party last evening for Chuck’s department at SIM was very fun. We heard the familiar story of Christ's birth read in a sort of West African English. We sang carols and said good words to one another. Ate sweet treats too.

Have a blessed day.
Carol