Can’t believe it’s been only a week since our lives have been uncoiled by Chase’s accident. I think it’s been the longest week of my life. I’m not complaining about the situation–just reflecting. It’s been quite the trial. And this morning in the shower I forced myself to thank God for it. I thanked him for the opportunity to again offer him praise in a time of struggle.
As one of my favorite worship songs reads:
Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
And blessed be Your name when I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your nameEvery blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise
And when the darkness closes in Lord
Still I will sayBlessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious nameBlessed be Your name when the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s “all as it should be”
Blessed be Your name
And blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Note the end of the verses. We can’t praise God simply when things are going good. Each trial we come across is simply another opportunity to turn the tables on then enemy and emerge victorious. This brings me to YET ANOTHER lesson from Secrets of the Vine (this book is only 126 pages long, and each page is quite small in surface area. It’s rather amazing how much I’m pulling from it).
I’ll quote, within the context of facing trials:
Are you suddenly facing a future with diabetes or prostate cancer? God isn’t purposefully constraining your life just to see how you’ll react. Yet every trail you face is an opportunity to let Him work in your life for abundance. If you invite Him into your circumstances, He will keep His promise to work everything together for your good (Rom. 8:28).
Pretty simple idea, I guess. But how often to we relish our trials and seize the opportunity to grow from them? Thankfully, we often end up growing from them in spite of our resistance. But what if we dove into them headfirst, desiring to be molded and changed from them? What if our desired outcome in ALL situations in life–be they positive or negative–were growth, rather than satisfaction, or contentment, or comfort, or pleasure?
Would the world be a different place–one more under the authority and rich blessing of Christ?
I think so.
I’ll close with lyrics to a song that has been my prayer of late. Show Me Your Glory by Third Day. I love waking up to it in the morning. Even at 6 (or 7 or 8) in the morning, I can’t restrain a smile from my face when I hear these words:
I caught a glimpse of Your splendor
In the corner of my eye
The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen
And it was like a flash of lightning
Reflected off the sky
And I know I’ll never be the sameShow me Your glory
Send down Your presence
I want to see Your face
Show me Your glory
Majesty shines about You
I can’t go on without You, LordWhen I climb down the mountain
And get back to my life
I won’t settle for ordinary things
I’m gonna follow You forever
And for all of my days
I won’t rest ’til I see You again
