Saturday, September 4, 2010

Sweeter Green

We don’t always get what we want. My idea of where I would be in life at by now does not line up exactly with the actual life that God has chosen for me. The success of our plans and ambitions is in God’s hands, not ours, and our future does not belong to us, but to God.

But he’s given us the present, and with it, millions of little pleasures for us to enjoy, millions of little things for us to love; he has scattered tiny reflections of his glory and beauty in everything we experience. And it’s our job, not to wish and dream and hope  and plan for our ideal vision of the future, nor to lament the fact that things didn’t turn out like we’d planned, but to grasp, and savor, and love the life that he’s given us now.

And God has given us himself. Every experience we have is richer and more beautiful because of our relationship with God. The fact is that he chooses us, redeems us, loves us, forgives us, listens to us, rejoices over us, and that every circumstance in each day is doled out to us in love and for our good. And then, he experiences these things with us, changing, creating, guiding, helping, supporting, comforting, inspiring, strengthening, encouraging, working alongside us and in us and through us; this truth lends every experience a beauty and grace and joy that it never could have apart from Christ.

So the facts of where I’m not in life – what I don’t have, what I didn’t accomplish – are nothing in comparison to the truth of where God has placed me. Those dreams are a lie and have nothing to do with God’s great reality.

So here I am, typing, eating leftover soup, and seeing the beauty in the cloudless sky, the breeze, the prospect of rest this afternoon, worship and fellowship at church tomorrow, and hard work and play in the week to come… and my greatest satisfaction and fulfillment is in just loving all those things as hard as I can, as gifts lavished on me from my most beautiful Creator and Redeemer.

Heaven above is softer blue, Earth around is sweeter green!
Something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen;
Birds with gladder songs o’erflow, flowers with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know, as now I know, I am His, and He is mine.

4 comments:

  1. Your spirit is beautiful! I'm sending my readers over to visit tonight/tomorrow! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Welcome to blogging! I just started blogging recently. It's been wonderful for me. I'm excited to see another "newbie". :)
    Welcome!

    Amy
    www.theblessedmom.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Welcome to the blogging world. Your blog looks very nice and inviting. I look forward to your posts. God Bless!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Welcome to blogging! I will definitely be back to read more! Blessings to you.

    ReplyDelete