Quand faut y aller faut y aller

I will call upon the Lord
Who is worthy to be praised
So shall I be saved from my enemies

The Lord liveth!
Blessed by the Rock
Blessed be the Rock of my salvation!
(2 Samuel 22:4)

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

The most embarrassing thing to have ever happened to me happened yesterday.  That is saying something because I've had some crazy embarrassing things happen.  I've walked into the men's room.  I've turned the wrong way down a one way street.  Called the wrong person on the phone and carried out an entire conversation.  I've had my bathing suit fall off in front of a crowd of people.

But yesterday beats them all.  We had our car repossessed yesterday.  In front of our children, our neighbors and passers-by - a man in a truck pulled into our driveway, backed up to our car and hauled it away.  It was humiliating.  You're trying to hold your head up, but what can you say?  Taking the nightly walk down the street, you can't help but wonder if those normally pleasant neighbors are ignoring you on purpose or whispering about you as you pass by.

I'm also quite frustrated - I am tired of hearing all the excuses and finger pointing.  Yes, it's true our government is not conducive to starting a small business.  Yes, it's true that we have one of the worst Presidents in our history.  Yes, it's true that he had a raw deal.  But it's also true that this life is hard.  Life is what it is, and that's the way it goes.  Or! we could say "this is our fault; I've contributed to this problem" - stop with the blaming others; blaming circumstances; holding anger at others.

Life plays out, and as it's playing, we're making decisions.  Those decisions lead us to the next movement of the sonata.  Sorrowful music is often the most beautiful.  There is such emotion in those scores.  It's not good; it's not bad; it is what it is.  Accept it, and by God's grace and following His principles, make it better ~ for His glory.

"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all to the glory of God."

I want God's best on my life.  The way to find God's best is in His presence where there is fulness of joy.  It's reading and following the precepts of God's Word - the Word that is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Even Job who did everything right lost everything.

Our precious Savior, Jesus Christ, was brutally abused and murdered and yet, without sin.

We have to play the cards we've been dealt.  We have to check and double check our decisions so we align with what the Bible spells out.  We have to do everything in our power to do this right, and then we have to take what's happening.  Dealing with it without grumbling and disputing.

We all talk about being transparent.  This is as real and transparent as it gets - no hiding from the repo man.

It's the little things

I was in my bedroom as I heard little feet shuffle down the hallway and into the bathroom.

I was sitting in the church service when I heard little hands tapping the page in the Bible as they followed along with the pastor.

I was serving lunch as I heard a muffled "amen" followed by a slurp of the soup.

It's the little things that bring joy.  When the children were born, Grandma would always marvel and say, "You have to teach them everything."  A baby has to be taught to eat, to walk, to dress, to speak.  We are always correcting and teaching.

Don't you think that's how God is with us? We have to be taught everything - who God is? Why did Jesus die? How to live as a Christ follower.  Can't you see Him smile when we shuffle into His routine? or gratefully remember Him before we eat or dress? or when we diligently seek Him through His Word must be so sweet to Him.

God made us to honor Him and He delights in us.
Paul writes in Colossians that "whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.  You are serving the Lord Christ."
When you play, when you eat, when you work, when you interact, when you wind "up" for the day and then when you wind down - do it for the Lord.  Let Him smile and be delighted in His creation.