Praise the Lord; it is Friday. Sunday is coming. Alice and I walked after 9 PM last night. It was a brilliant strarry night. The peepers were making a joyful noise unto the Lord. The stars were bright and beautiful, and the air was fragrant. Praise the Lord for the night time and the way the Lord ushers in a new dawn. Again it is the springtime in New York. It is all beautiful and colorful. The crab apple trees, lilacs, magnolia, forsythia, and all other flowering trees and bushes are in full bloom. The crab apple tree in front of the parsonage is in full bloom with luxuriant color. The lilac bushes across from the parsonage are also in full bollm with a multitude of purple colors. Praise the Lord for the way He is so generous and lavishing iin every way.
Our friend Warren Ayer often says, "Do you
know how to make God laugh? Tell him your plans." C. S. Lewis remarked that there are only two prayers in the universe: “My
will be done” and “Thy will be done.” Everything we pray fits into one of those
two categories. I know from long experience that it’s not easy to sincerely pray
“Thy will be done.” Like most people, I would prefer that my will be done. There
is something in all of us that wants to be in control, wants to run the show,
wants to set the agenda, wants to be in charge. It occurs to me that the only truly joyful people I have ever known are
those who have prayed, “Thy will be done.” They have the “great peace” of
Psalm
119:165. They have discovered that the way
to peace is to yield everything to the Lord. Until we do that, there will be
continual inner unrest.
Blessed is the sorrow, blessed is the pain, blessed is the disappointment, blessed is the failure, and blessed are the saddest moments of life, if that sorrow, pain, disappointment, failure, and sadness causes us to say, “Oh Lord, not my will but yours be done.” Accursed is the success, the prosperity, all our fame and fortune, networking, status-grabbing, moneymaking, and empire-building, if they do not lead us again and again to the place of full surrender. May we come to the place where we gladly say, “Oh Lord, you have been better to me than I deserve. Not my will, but thy will be done.”
Eugene Peterson, The Message: “For those who love what you reveal, everything fits—no stumbling around in the dark for them.” Psalm 119:165
Blessed is the sorrow, blessed is the pain, blessed is the disappointment, blessed is the failure, and blessed are the saddest moments of life, if that sorrow, pain, disappointment, failure, and sadness causes us to say, “Oh Lord, not my will but yours be done.” Accursed is the success, the prosperity, all our fame and fortune, networking, status-grabbing, moneymaking, and empire-building, if they do not lead us again and again to the place of full surrender. May we come to the place where we gladly say, “Oh Lord, you have been better to me than I deserve. Not my will, but thy will be done.”
Eugene Peterson, The Message: “For those who love what you reveal, everything fits—no stumbling around in the dark for them.” Psalm 119:165
In Christ,
Brown
