Today's Meditation
My reading today starts with Psalm 33:1-4. In that, verse 4 really jumps out at me.
For the word of the Lord holds true, and everything he does is worthy of our trust. (Italics mine)
Not just the stuff we like, or the stuff that fits in with our plans, but everything He does. Even the stuff that is so far out of whack with what we want that it seems like it's not God's doing. Everything He does is worthy of our trust. But we make the choice to trust or not. God's grace and love are eternal and unchanging. Our joy, our response to that, is, to some extent at least, under our control. Lately I've gotten to know many unhappy people. And the thing is--they have no apparent reason to be unhappy. They have their basic needs met, people who care about them-enough even to care about them when they are doing nothing but complaining. They have families, health, church, jobs, all they things we think we need and they still radiate unhappiness. How sad. Sometimes, I know, it's not under their control and we all have unhappinesses in our lives that are unavoidable and not visible to others. But these people are unhappy about minor things--they just don't like this or that, all the time. No matter what God or anyone else does, it's never good enough. Dear God, remind me that my joy is just that, MY joy and that when I find myself unhappy about everything around me maybe it's not what's around me but what's inside me that needs the adjustment.