February 14, 2012
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HAPPY Valentine’s Day
Today was a day of challenges. Not life-size challenges. Not the challenges that will knock a person down. Not even the challenges you might expect from a single girl on Valentine’s Day.
Just the ordinary challenges that come with being a still-being-sanctified human being in a waiting-to-be-redeemed world. Last night, I wrote in my journal about the dichotomy between the various aspects of my life–the big ups, the big downs, the smaller ups, the smaller downs, and the living in the life that is often traveling through all of them at the same time.I have stacks of blessings to the clouds; I cried myself to work, after burning my wrist with hot tea in the front yard, telling God that I just. could. not. do. this. any. more. I am too tired to even move, much less accomplish my requirements.
My sweet, darling, newest nephew Calvin seems to be doing much better after a bit of a health scare yesterday; I am taking down my Christmas tree tonight because a.) It’s Valentine’s Day and b.) I need my house to look good by Thursday (for another one of those ups and downs).
I got to come home today after school today, after having conferences last evening, conferences tomorrow evening and a wonderful visit with my Grandpa last night; I was all argumentative with my sister today, not even realizing that it was Valentine’s Day and she was calling for a happy, I-love-you-I’m-glad-you’re-my-sister chat.
And then, I got off the phone with her and sat in the kitchen and bawled, because so self-focused was I, that in the midst of these and other ordinary-to-life struggles, I had lost sight of what God calls me to do–to fix my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of my faith, to the One Who, for the joy set before Him, endured the Cross, scorned its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Why am I to do that? In part, so that I will not grow weary and lose heart.
And then, after the trainwreck had halted and before I completely gave up, I returned a phone call to my best friend, telling her of the most recent mess I’d made of things and then got frustrated when someone was knocking at my door while I was trying to talk with her, because I just wasn’t up to one more thing. And then I opened the door. And she walked in. With two bunches of what I call “red tiger lilies”, but are really scarlet alstroemeria and have been one of my favorite flowers since I was a teenager. For me. For Valentine’s Day. And then I really cried.
This silly girl, who knows that God provides, God forgives, God does the impossible, God IS, and yet who gets herself SO distracted by all the Other Things, is the loved daughter of a kind and gracious Father Who showers her with undeserved gifts of sweetness from Himself, His Word and His people, and sometimes, in the beautiful gift of Scarlet Alstroemeria from a precious friend and her children–not because she’s worthy, but because GOD is, and He gives to supply my needs (and even desires) according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
That, my friends, is infinite wealth. And that, my friends, is our generous God. How I praise Him! NOT just because of His kindness to me in sending encouragement when I was discouraged, but the fact that in His boundless love and mercy, He the ransom freely gave. He has taken care of my greatest need in saving my soul from eternal judgement through the shed blood of Jesus. How will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Oh, for grace to trust Him more!
