Wanting God's Best

Over the summer I travelled south via train to visit our one son. Any time one has to use mass transit, it is always an adventure. It never fails that when I am traveling or visiting places that I will be asked for directions or help from fellow travelers. On this visit, there was a young Polish couple that approached me about using the D.C. Metro. It was rewarding to help them and to be the face of welcome to our little patch of the world. I always think how would I feel if I were a foreigner in a foreign land and needed help. And, of course, their English was far superior than my Polish (nieistniejący).

As I was traveling and watching the various vistas roll by, I thought how blessed and grateful I am that we are living where we are. Many years ago, our hearts were wishing to live in a different location close to where our son is now living. As I traveled down to see him, I was so grateful that God didn’t heed that original plea. What I thought was the best, turns out to not be.

Not only is our current location beautiful and charming but it suits our lifestyle. The location where we thought we wanted in VA, would've exhausted us in no time. There is a different rhythm and pace in both places, the RI being preferable to us.

I thought of other times that I prayed fervently for various situations for myself and others: fruition of dreams, moves, career decisions, health. My prayers were more like kicking and screaming wanting my will, what I thought was the best outcome. I did not always pray- “Thy will be done”, rather I prayed for God’s rubber stamp of approval on my plans. Yet I am glad that God did His will anyway. It was all in God’s good timing. It was just a shame and a waste of time for me to be so obstinate to be in control. If only I had let go and let God? I would’ve saved myself from so much heartache and wringing of hands.

Currently I am continually praying for family members and their various situations: health, broken dreams, seemingly insurmountable situations that cannot be solved, yet Thy will be done. I want God’s best for them- solutions and plans that I do not know.

Yet it is hard to have God’s will be done and not be impatient or confused over His plans and timing. We know of a family that has been totally slammed with tragic news upon tragic news. The husband/father of three young adult daughters has ALS. This gentleman’s prognosis and deterioration has been fast and cruel: He needs help breathing and cannot communicate hardly at all as his muscles, even the smallest ones, do not work. His wife was in a horrible car accident and was determined to be brain dead. The family had to make the painful and heart wrenching decision to remove life support. What is the best for those people? What they are experiencing doesn’t sound like the best. These are the times when one cries out, “Why? Why is this happening? Don’t you care God?”

For many people, it is enough to turn one’s back on God.

Yet.

Don’t we want the best for our loved ones? For ourselves? Why would we turn our back on the One who has the plan for our lives? Wouldn’t the Creator of all know what is best for His creation? While we may never know why this family has had to suffer, the Creator has the large picture in view. He didn’t cause those issues and He is walking right beside those daughters.

Selfishly, I want God’s best for my life and for the lives of those I love. As Peterson’s The Message says, “do what’s best” is the interpretation of The Lord’s Prayer of “Thy will be done.” Some skeptics will say that in following God and believing in Him, we put our brain aside. Yet following and believing God is our choice. Allowing God to have complete control. “Thy will be done” is a choice. To ask Him to do what is best in the situations we find ourselves.

What about you? How are you in choosing to let God be in control? How are you in letting anyone be in control?

I know that I struggle with the idea of control. Heck. I do not like to ski because there is a component of “letting go” and letting the limbs, snow and skis have some fluidity. One has to relax and not be rigid in one’s descent. Like so much of life, the more we tighten control over items, situations, even people, the more trouble and problems occur.

Choosing to allow God to have His will for our lives is kind of like traveling the train. The destination may be pre-determined but how I behave and enjoy or not enjoy the ride is my choice.

Day 29: Words and Pictures: Joy

Joy: “a feeling of great happiness; success or satisfaction.”

Joy and its synonyms- delight, bliss, felicity are some of my favorite words. What is not part of the definitions is the state in which joy may occur- joy may be present regardless of circumstances.

Contrary to many of the definitions, I also think that joy is not happiness although the feelings might seem the same, just like a thermostat is not a thermometer although both determine temperature.

A thermometer responds to the temperature around it. If the temperature is warm, the mercury rises. If it is cold, it plummets. Much like happiness. We are happy when our surroundings are pleasant, situations are hopeful, or our health is relatively good. We can become unhappy or miserable if we do not feel well, if we feel hopeless or if times are tough. Just like the outside temperature determines the response of the mercury, the outside conditions of life can determine if we are happy.

On the other hand, a thermostat controls the temperature of the surroundings. It determines the degree of heat or air conditioning that is needed to flow in order to achieve a preset room temperature. It is not controlled by its external surroundings but is internally controlling the temperature. Much like joy.

Joy is a preset state of mind. We sometimes have to choose joy first, before we “feel” it. Joy happens when you are least aware of it or least wanting it to occur. I have heard of many people say that even in the middle of a difficult crisis or struggle there is a peace and joy in their heart.

I know that there have been times when if I just went by the chaotic external circumstances of life I could be justifiably miserable but because I had chosen to concentrate on joy, I felt surprisingly at peace. I wouldn’t say that I am an ebullient (cheerful, full of energy) individual all the time, but my nature leans more towards that than not. Partly it could be my personality, upbringing, etc. But I think a good part of it is because God is in control of my life and that gives me a peace that passes all understanding. I wouldn’t be so bold as to say that I feel that way all the time. Everyday it is the daily sanctification of choosing God in my life, of choosing God’s will over my own, of trusting God with all the details of my life, of letting God control my “thermostat” and of choosing joy.

“Jesus did not promise to change the circumstances around us. He promised great peace and pure joy to those who would learn to believe that God actually controls all things.” ~ Corrie ten Boom. (Survivor of the Holocaust, went on to become one of the great saints in this world, an inspirational speaker and author.)

“Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.” ~Rick Warren. (Pastor and author who is not a stranger to struggles and tragedy.)

What about you? Are you a thermometer or thermostat? Happy? Or joy-filled? In the middle of all this individual, national and global uncertainty, who do you think is in control?

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Because of copyright, I wouldn’t post a picture of Henri Matisse’s Joy of Life (Le Bonheur de Vivre). Click here to see an interesting video about it.

Click here for more information about Corrie ten Boom.

Click here for more information about Rick Warren and to read his daily devotional.

Day 28: Words and Pictures: Peace

Peace. freedom from disturbance; tranquility. The Bible’s definition: šālôm, translated in the Septuagint most often by the Greek word, eirēnē, has a wide semantic range including the notions of totality or completeness, success, fulfillment, wholeness, harmony, security and well being. 

Are you at peace today? In looking at the words of the definition- tranquility, security, well being, it would appear through social media, news reports and anecdotally through my own discussions with friends and family, that most people are feeling at odds and not peaceful at all.

I find peace to be paradoxical. There are times when I should be anxious and unsettled and I am not. I feel calm and peaceful. When there is a big crisis or problem, I can be clear headed, compartmentalize what needs to be done and dive right in. I wouldn’t say that I am the best in crisis and I would never boast about it (partly for fear that through some cosmic whammy I would be given a whopper of a problem) but I have experienced and witnessed enough to know that I could (and have) survive(d) through some big issues.

At other times, the littlest pebble of disruption will ripple my still pond. I get anxious, upset and irritable. Those days I do not handle the small things well. AT ALL. There is no peace in my life (and I am afraid in my household) on those days.

How do we cultivate peace? How can we be free from disturbances in our minds and actions? How do we promote peace? To move toward wholeness and harmony?

For me it is all about my faith. Not in me or anything I can do but in God and what He has and can do. It is all about letting go of control.

This pandemic has taught me a bunch of lessons and one of the biggest is about control. In some ways the big things are easier for me to relinquish control. Since there is no way I can do anything about circumstances, like the spread of the corona virus and subsequent shut-down of society, I am for the most part not worrying about it. But, the small things like planning when/if we can travel to our Cape house to get it ready to rent this summer is something about which I am unsettled. It is hard for me to just let things go and unfold without my “input” and not have a plan which I have constructed.

I am comforted by the words of Jesus: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” When I trust that God has things in control- both big and small- I am at peace. The peace that Jesus gives us is the shalom, the wellbeing and harmony of being reconciled with God. Part of that reconciliation is recognizing that we are not perfect people and we cannot have peace within ourselves or others apart from God.

It is not a once and done thing. It is a daily sanctification of choosing to let God be in control, to let Him be the guide and in charge of my thoughts, actions and reactions. It is letting Jesus’ peace seep into my very marrow. It is being, at times, counter intuitive to what the world says: trust no one, look out for #1, do whatever it takes to survive, you are in control. The thing is, that type of thinking only makes us anxious and disturbed because sooner or later we will realize that we cannot control life, that we need one another and that looking out for only ourselves (and doing whatever we want and not being considerate of others) is very lonely and potentially deadly (as this virus has shown).

While Jesus also reminded his followers that there will be trouble and difficulties in this life, the ideal of a peaceable kingdom can begin now- heaven on earth until such time when there will be a new heaven and earth. I can be part of the building of that peaceable kingdom by offering shalom to others: to aid one another in achieving wholeness, to promote harmony among people, to encourage each one of us to be reconciled with God.

What about you? Peaceful today? In this moment that I am writing this post, I can say that I do feel at peace. While I know that unsettling circumstances are swirling around me, I am choosing to not let my heart be troubled. I am choosing to accept the peace that Jesus gives me. I am choosing to be a peace-maker.

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Click here to learn more about the painting.

Edward Hicks painted many versions of The Peaceable Kingdom, taking the theme from a passage from the Book of Isaiah, 11:6-8, which tells of all the animals gathering together in harmony. Hicks recast the Biblical text as a poem:

The wolf did with the lambkin dwell in peace.

His grim carnivorous nature there did cease

The leopard with the harmless kid laid down

And not one savage beast was seen to frown

The lion with the fatling on did move

A little child was leading them in love.