My mother-in-law had to go into a nursing home, and we had to box up the things in the house. In the process of clearing out her home, we found a box full of old newspaper articles. She had cut out every article about her family that had appeared in the newspaper for the last 50 years! There were articles that mentioned her parents, siblings, and children. And of course, she cut out the entire article that accompanied any picture of her grandchildren.
While it has been really interesting reading through the articles, the thing that struck me most was how much she loved her family. She concentrated on her family her whole life, and the articles are testament to how much she cared about us all.
Every once in a while an article comes over the Internet that stays in my memory. One such article talked about how much God loves us, and how, if He had a refrigerator, our pictures would be on it. You know, I'll bet He even keeps a box of articles about our accomplishments somewhre in His storage closet. I can see the headlines now: Local Church Finishes VBS with a Carnival, Local Girl Goes on Mission to Bulgaria, Cell Groups Meeting in Local Homes, Church Ladies Present Quilts to Graduating Seniors, Youth Group Prayerwalks Town, and on and on, and on. I know He loves us enough to keep all those "articles". We want to please our Father, and He is pleased by our actions that glorify Him.
Yet we also need to remember the deeds that God does. He has saved my loved ones, He is always faithful, He protects and provides for us, He holds us close in bad times, and carries us in hard times. He is always there. His deeds are marvelous. Do we keep any "articles" about what He has done for us in our "box of memories"? I urge you to begin prayer journaling, if you haven't already, and write down how and when God does things for you. Mine might have titles like God Saves Young Girl, God Makes a Way--I''m Going to College!, God Saves My Mom, Brother Returns to Jesus, God Handles My Finances, God Provides Church Family, God Performs Miracle Healing....well, you get the picture!
In Jeremiah, God tells us that He knows the plans He has for us. I'd like to think of my "boxes" as being full of stories about God working in and through us, because in the end, my purpose will have been to fulfill all the things God had planned for my life.
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Eph 2:10 KJV
"2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy." Hab 3: 2
No comments:
Post a Comment