“And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?”
Things happen in our lives that we don’t understand. Maybe that’s the point. Trust is letting go of trying to control and figure things out for yourself, and letting God take care of you the way He sees fit. Your job transfers you somewhere new, after years of living comfortably in the same place. Why God? You’re barely scraping by as it is, and now the car decides it doesn’t want to run anymore without a major overhaul. Why God? Your life seems perfect, no worries, things are amazing, then major tragedy strikes. Why God? Well, maybe instead of asking Why?, we should be asking Why not? Part of the human condition seems to be always focus on the present problems, the lowly state we’re in at that moment, how desperate we are for this or that, always a focus on self. But what of the big picture? How will our family be strengthened by an uprooting to somewhere completely different? Who does God have us lined up to come in contact with while we’re waiting on our car to be fixed? How will our brokenness from a major loss be used to strengthen and encourage other believers?
God is good. He knows what He’s doing. He loves us, with a real, true love that does not wrong. He makes sure that birds are fed and taken care of, how much more those who are called His children, who are made in his image and have Him living in them? When we put our faith and trust in Him, good times and bad, and continue to give Him the glory, our lives truly do echo His greatness and attest to the great things that He has done.
Challenge:
Stop working about it. Remember that God made and is in control of everything. He loves His children, He cares for His children, Her wants us to let Him take care of us. SO LET HIM. Say “Whoa there!” to the control freak inside.
Prayer:
Lord, help us to remember that You are in control. Help us to truly trust that You will provide and that You know best. You are, after all, Our Father. Help us to remember that it’s not about us, that everything we go through and experience allows us to be of better use to You. Grant us Your beautiful peace that comes when we submit and surrender to You. We love you. Please be patient with us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Rick Warren's Inaugural Invocation for Barack Obama
Like him or love him the invocation was moving.
"Let us pray. Almighty God, our Father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you. It all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story. The Scripture tells us, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is One.” And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made. Now, today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hingepoint of history with the inauguration of our first African American president of the United States. We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven. Give to our new President, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders. Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race, or religion, or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all. When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us. And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ. Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all. May all people of goodwill today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you. We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care. I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus, who taught us to pray: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever". Amen"
"Let us pray. Almighty God, our Father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you. It all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story. The Scripture tells us, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is One.” And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made. Now, today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hingepoint of history with the inauguration of our first African American president of the United States. We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven. Give to our new President, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders. Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race, or religion, or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all. When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us. And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ. Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all. May all people of goodwill today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you. We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care. I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus, who taught us to pray: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever". Amen"
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