Little blessings

My little sister with me - Fall '10

Sometimes you pray for God's blessings, for things you need, but overlook the obvious blessings right under your nose.

I've been concerned about some things lately and praying for God's provision. But tonight, He sent me a small Reminder to not worry about tomorrow, but instead to appreciate the beauty of today.

In the form of a little girl's plea, "Rissa, can you read me the Bible tonight?"

You see, if I'm around when my sister Elise is going to bed, I'll often read her to sleep, usually from the Bible, because, "Rissa, you make it interesting and exciting!

Tonight she snuggled into my shoulder as I read from Psalm 139, "You hem me in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me."

"Do you know what a hem is?" I asked her.

When she replied yes, I explained, "See, a hem keeps the fabric from being frayed and ripped. Something like that, God hems us in and holds us, so that we're safe from being ruined and torn apart. He protects us."

Her eyes lit up in her signature way and her smile widened. "That's so cool!"

We talked and snuggled for a little while longer, when she stopped and looked at me, stroking my cheek. "Rissa, has anybody told you you're beautiful?"

I smiled and felt my eyes tear up. "Thank you, darling."

I had just showered so my hair was an unruly mop of drying curls, no makeup or anything. I didn't feel all that lovely.

But in taking time to love her, to give her my undivided attention, to share Jesus' love for her, with her... I wasn't even thinking of my looks.

The Apostle Peter said that a gentle and quiet spirit was how the holy women of the past used to make themselves beautiful.

Not necessarily by spending extra time on her appearance. Not by having everything in life under control. Not by doing more, being more, spending more on herself.

No, her beauty lay in her gentle, quiet attitude. Her trust in God's safekeeping leaves her free to give of herself to love and serve others.

Sometimes, in my preoccupation with my own agenda and modern efforts toward making myself beautiful and successful, I forget it, but...

Perhaps the old-fashioned method is still the most effective.

In God's Hands

"...I am not ashamed, for I know Whom I have believed, 

and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that Day 

what [I have entrusted to Him]."

(II Timothy 1:12)

You say let it go;

You say life is waiting...

You say You will be everything I need;

You say let it go.

What do I love? What do I hate?

What will I lose? What will I gain? ...

What if I bend? What if I break?

What will it cost? What will it take

For You to save my soul?

You say let it go.

—Tenth Avenue North

"I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all;

but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess."

—Martin Luther

The Hands Holding You...

Why do you say... "My way is hidden from the LORD...?"

Have you not known? Have you not heard? 

The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable.

(Isaiah 40:27-28)

These are the Hands that built the mountains

The Hands that calmed the seas

These are the arms that hold the heavens

They are holding you and me

These are Hands that healed the leper

Pulled the lame up to their feet

These are the arms that were nailed to a cross

To break our chains and set us free

You will be safe in His arms

'Cause the hands that hold the world

Are holding your heart

—Phil Wickham, 2009, "Safe"

On Letting Go

Elisabeth Elliot wrote in a book of hers, "When the will of God crosses the will of man, one of them must die." Is it our way that is wiser, higher, kinder than our Creator's? It never can be so.
So many times I think something would bring me joy and delight, and yet, the Lord very firmly closes that door. I don't pretend to know the reasons, or understand His ways, but I do know that whatever the Lord does is right... and can only be in faithfulness, in goodness, in kindness.

Reading this week, I came across this short poem. There's so much meaning packed into that simple line: "You never did let go."

As children bring their broken toys,
With tears, for us to mend,
I brought my broken dreams to God
Because He is my Friend.
But then, instead of leaving Him
In peace, to work alone,
I hung around and tried to help
With ways that were my own.
At last, I snatched them back and cried,
"How can You be so slow?"
"My child," He said, "What could I do?
You never did let go."

—Author Unknown

His Eye is On the Sparrow...

As always—because I need the exhortation/encouragement myself.

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

"Let not your heart be troubled," His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

I sing because I'm happy!
I sing because I'm free!
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

—Civilla D. Martin

What the Almighty Can Do

Just one of the songs that have been on my heart lately – so good, and so helpful at putting my focus back into perspective!

Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e'er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Given thee life, and, with loving hand, guided and stayed thee;
How oft in grief hath He not brought thee relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee;
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
When, in His love, He befriends thee.

Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease, turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him;
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

—Joachim Neander; translation by Catherine Winkworth

Wherever you are in your life right now, take heart and press on... for He is GOOD, and His way is perfect.