"O Lord, by all Thy dealings with us,
whether of joy or pain,
of light or darkness,
let us be brought to Thee.
Let us value no treatment of Thy grace
simply because it makes us happy
or because it makes us sad,
because it gives us or denies us what we want;
but may all that Thou sendest us bring us to Thee,
that, knowing Thy perfectness,
we may be sure in every disappointment that Thou art still loving us,
and in every darkness that Thou art still enlightening us,
and in every enforced idleness that Thou are still using us;
yea, in every death that Thou art still giving us life,
as in His death Thou didst give to Thy Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen."
~ Phillips Brooks
whether of joy or pain,
of light or darkness,
let us be brought to Thee.
Let us value no treatment of Thy grace
simply because it makes us happy
or because it makes us sad,
because it gives us or denies us what we want;
but may all that Thou sendest us bring us to Thee,
that, knowing Thy perfectness,
we may be sure in every disappointment that Thou art still loving us,
and in every darkness that Thou art still enlightening us,
and in every enforced idleness that Thou are still using us;
yea, in every death that Thou art still giving us life,
as in His death Thou didst give to Thy Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen."
~ Phillips Brooks
This prayer came to mind the other day and I found it amidst scraps of other prayers and "inspiration" which I've collected over the years. I don't know why I thought of it, only maybe the Lord knows I need a reminder during this season: a reminder to submit to all that He brings into my life and not judge circumstances too quickly, as I am often prone to do. I find myself constantly saying 'well, this happy thing happened, so God must love me" or "this is painful, God must be unhappy with me". I know this is spiritual immaturity in it's most basic form, and I know better than to start with me. I must start with God and His truth (first, He loves me in Christ Jesus, then, because of this, He causes all things to work together for my good) and view my circumstances through that lens. Really, I just need a reminder that His chief goal for my life is not my happiness, and that I will have painful times as He conforms me to His purposes and plans for my life.
Tomorrow I start working with CEF of Greater St. Louis as a Summer Ministry Assistant (it sounds more important than it really is). I am unprepared in just about every way. I am so bone tired. My biggest concern is that I am not spiritually ready for a summer of ministry. I thought I had more time to prepare, but the beginning of May is here already. I bought a plant for my desk today, but I haven't prayed. Oh, so typical. Perhaps if you think about it you can pray that I will seek the Kingdom first and worry about how I look to others later (or not at all).
Tomorrow I start working with CEF of Greater St. Louis as a Summer Ministry Assistant (it sounds more important than it really is). I am unprepared in just about every way. I am so bone tired. My biggest concern is that I am not spiritually ready for a summer of ministry. I thought I had more time to prepare, but the beginning of May is here already. I bought a plant for my desk today, but I haven't prayed. Oh, so typical. Perhaps if you think about it you can pray that I will seek the Kingdom first and worry about how I look to others later (or not at all).
No comments:
Post a Comment