An Alternate Route

Grace is when God gives us good things even when we don't deserve them and mercy is when God doesn't give us what we actually deserve. As I've been packing up the house for this monumental move across country I have taken notice at how many blessings God has given me. Not just material blessings such as a roof over my head, a warm bed, hot water, food and drink....but unseen blessings that are not apparent to the eye but only to the keen heart. The Holy Spirit has been opening the eyes of my heart to all the thwarted attacks that could have happened but never did. I am finding myself full of gratitude to God for exactly what He has given me and for all the other things He has protected me from.

It may sound silly at first but if you ponder it you will realize all the tiny and big blessings that you have each day. We tend to only focus on what's happening and harbor a spirit of complaining for what we don't have rather than a thankful spirit for what we should be glad we didn't get! I find through the day as I begin to worry about something that might happen...I begin to turn my worry into praise that that actual worry hasn't happened! I find myself saying more and more, "Praise you Lord for Your goodness and Your protection. Whatever happens in my life happens in Your hand,Your grace will be sufficient for me because Your loving-kindness endures forever!" I know now that He loves me and His intentions are not to hurt me (Jeremiah 29:11). He is a good Father and seeks only that I grow up with a strong and fine character. He is the giver and taker of all things, He hears my prayers and my petitions but as I come to see His great love for me I understand that I must end those prayers with, "Your will though Father, not mine."

Slow down a bit today and set aside some time to ponder all the things that not only God has blessed you with but for all the things He is protecting you from! Psalm 100:4 says we are to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise! Do you want to be in the presence of the most loving and forgiving entity ever to exist? Do you want to feel loved by the God who took on human form and came, walked among us and  died in our place then rose again so that we could have life eternal? Do you want to have your worries and shame washed away? Do you want peace? Then go sit alone with Him and just praise Him.

Psalm 103:1, Praise the Lord, O my soul...

Isaiah 61:3, ......a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. 

For Rain

It's cold and the rain is playing its song as it falls upon my garden. The sounds woke me slowly and played softly as background music to my dreams. Poetry filled me and spilled from me as my eyes wanted to open but refused. I wrote in my heart these words....

I have lived in the darkness of the shadows of my grief, too long. I choose now to step into the light, the light behind the shadows. I will let it lift me and comfort me, for I have been weak and so tired. The darkness made me sickly but the light will heal me. There is "wonderful" in my mind and it feels lovely and kind. I will choose praise over complaints, love over animosity, lightness over heaviness, laughter over tears. My longings shall be joy gleaned from goodness rather than sorrow swept up from despair, and my tattered soul will find repair. A smile, a smile rises from the deep and covers me and those around me. O, darkness, you cannot come where I am, I can only come to you....but I choose not to.

Although it is cold and raining today....I am warm and full of light. In my soul, it's raining "light".