What if your blessings come through raindrops
What if your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials in this life are Your mercies in disguise
Every Wednesday night I get together with my friend Stephanie for dinner and we catch up on each others week. It's a great time for the two of us to take a step back from our stressful college lives, share what has been going on in our lives, and build each other up through prayer and encouragement. This week, what has really stayed with me since we talked was the power of sharing.
I don't know how many times I've tossed out a quick - "Make me a blessing today, Lord," - prayer on my way out of my room as I lock the door, and then never give it another thought.
Anyway, Wednesday night Stephanie and I talked about keeping regular quiet times, and she mentioned she was having problems getting beyond the routine of it. Completely understanding, having been there and I'm sure I will be there again someday, I told her about my new version of quiet time.
Here's something I wrote in my journal this week -
"Lord- We have a problem. A good problem, but a problem none the less. Because I've been so excited lately to get up and have a date with You in the morning, I haven't been able to fall asleep!"
I've found myself in this love relationship (finally!) with God, where, I'm not really sure when or what happened, but I feel like I've seen a peek of the lover that God is to me. I no longer call what I do in the early morning a quiet time or a Bible study, because it's more like every morning I get up and God is waiting, not just waiting, WANTING to spend time with me. Me! All I have to do is brew the coffee.
Together we sit and chat and I drink my coffee and we have a wonderful time together. Something I'm especially enjoying in our relationship is the sunrises and the music. Music is a large influence in my life (as it is in many others lives as well), and I've been hooked on this song You're Beautiful by Phil Wickham, and the first verse is about seeing God's face in every sunrise.
Now, I'm not very easily prone to tears, but in the morning when I see the sunrise (reflected in the windows of a building, because I'm not actually facing East), and I sing that song to God just me and my guitar and Him, I can get a little choked up.
Who am I, that God would want to paint me such beautiful sunrises?
Who am I, that God would want to spend time just showing me how much He loves me?
I am blessed.
Like I said last week, there is finally joy, real joy, in my life again. It is a week where all the blessings are good ones - I was accepted as an RA for this fall (so many worries taken care of), and one of my dear friends is pregnant. Things are good.
Last night at Campus Crusade though, the speaker played this song by Laura Story, the lyrics at the start of this are from it, and it really touched my heart. The song is about blessings - and what if they are the trials, the troubles, not just the happy things in life.
And I completely agreed - I've seen more blessings come from the bad, from the times when life is hard, than when the sky is clear. I was able to listen to that song (and have been constantly, because I'm addicted to it now) and say - "Yes, Lord, I see those blessings, too." And I was able to be thankful for them.
At the risk of writing too much that doesn't mean much, I'll end with these verses I read this morning in Phillipians.
Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7
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