My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:15-16
When I was born, my mother wanted a boy. She still mentions it occasionally. When we learned my daughter was having a girl, my mother asked if I thought that would be okay. We were all thrilled! My dad wanted a boy too. In fact, I don’t think he knows yet that he didn’t get one. He did say that when I was born and the nurse told him I was a girl, he asked her to go back and see if she could find a boy. My parents had one chance to have a boy and they had me instead. I think they got over it, for the most part, and they are pleased with God’s decision.
Knowing they wanted a boy could explain why I prefer baseball to ballet. It could explain why my best friends in high school and college were guys. They used to tell me they liked me because I didn’t act like a girl. I took it as a compliment since they said it was what they liked about me, but I’m glad I wasn’t born a boy. I love being a girl because I get to be the mom. And yet I know that in some ways I’ve never acted like most females.
God knew I would be a girl. He wanted a girl. He knew I would be born to parents who were hoping for a boy. He also knew that I would like some of the things boys like. Every bit of this was part of His plan for me.
Isn’t it comforting to know that God knew you before you were born? He had planned every day of your life before even one of them came to be. God knew everything, good or bad that would happen to you, and He has used every bit of it to shape you into the person He created you to be. God has a purpose for your life. Just relax, enjoy being you, and follow His plan. A wonderful adventure awaits you!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Laughing Always
Scripture reading: Proverbs 3:13-26
Proverbs 3:25-26 “Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.”
Live life, love God, laugh always. I love to laugh often, but always? Not everything is funny. As my son-in-law prepares to leave for Iraq again, my family is having a hard time laughing about everything.
Proverbs 31:25 says a wife of noble character “is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” The Hebrew word for laugh is sahaq. It means to celebrate, rejoice, or frolic. It also means to mock or scoff. A woman like this is optimistic about the future, but she can also scoff at any disaster that may come. She is prepared for anything. She is steadfast. Proverbs 31:30 suggests she got that way by fearing the Lord. She understands the Lord’s ways.
How does understanding His ways prepare us for the future? Proverbs 3:19 says that God created the world by wisdom and understanding. Proverbs 8:30-31 says, “Then I (wisdom) was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.” So wisdom is able to laugh always.
“By wisdom a house is built and through understanding it is established,” according to Proverbs 24:3. Beth Moore describes that as meaning that wisdom builds the dwelling and understanding secures it. The Hebrew word that is translated established there is kun. It means to be established, be steadfast, be reliable, be certain, be ready, be prepared. It signifies initial preparation, actual preparation for the future event. It also signifies the deep satisfaction and sense of well being which comes from the certainty that our hearts steadfastly trust in the Lord who directs our paths. Because God has made the initial preparation, we can trust Him to direct our paths.
Psalm 112:7-8 says the righteous man “will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, he will have no fear, in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.” Psalm 37:23 says, “If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumbles he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand”.
My daughter and granddaughter love the movie Enchanted. To be honest, I’d have to say I love it too. We were watching it for about the seventh time a few days ago. It had been a difficult day. Anna was missing her dad, Livy was missing her mom. Both were out of town on business. It was raining…again. It wasn’t the happiest of days, but it was obvious they were both really into the happily ever after of the movie. After it was over, Anna said, “I love this movie. It shows there is a happily ever after even when it doesn’t look like there could be.” It’s true. God is into happy endings and happily ever afters. He sees today, but He also sees how the story ends.
So how does all this help us laugh always? How does it prepare us for bad news or disaster? How do we know that happy endings apply to us? I don’t know about you, but hearing that I need to be righteous or that the Lord needs to delight in my way for it to happen doesn’t always make me laugh. Well, my eight year old…the one who is reading over my shoulder right now says she has the perfect verse to go here. It’s John 3:16. She’s right. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” On my own I’m not righteous. I’m no match for Satan. I do a lot of things that would keep God from delighting in me. But I have believed in and continue to trust the one who built this world with wisdom and understanding.
God told His children who were in captivity because of their disobedience in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” And Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Nothing takes God by surprise. Proverbs 16:4 tells us “The Lord works out everything for his own ends…” And our history with God can tell us His own ends will be good.
Deuteronomy 32:4 says, “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” God is the Rock. Lean on Him. He can hold you up. Try leaning on anything or anyone else and see what happens. Job 8:13-15 says it like this, “Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless. What he trusts in is fragile, what he relies on is a spider’s web. He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.” Beth Moore takes the spider web analogy a step further to say that we will become entangled in a sticky mess when we lean on anything or anyone but God.
So how can we laugh when nothing is funny? We can lighten up and laugh by understanding who God is. We can laugh at the days to come because God planned for them all in advance and He planned that one day we would live with Him, happily ever after.
Proverbs 3:25-26 “Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.”
Live life, love God, laugh always. I love to laugh often, but always? Not everything is funny. As my son-in-law prepares to leave for Iraq again, my family is having a hard time laughing about everything.
Proverbs 31:25 says a wife of noble character “is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” The Hebrew word for laugh is sahaq. It means to celebrate, rejoice, or frolic. It also means to mock or scoff. A woman like this is optimistic about the future, but she can also scoff at any disaster that may come. She is prepared for anything. She is steadfast. Proverbs 31:30 suggests she got that way by fearing the Lord. She understands the Lord’s ways.
How does understanding His ways prepare us for the future? Proverbs 3:19 says that God created the world by wisdom and understanding. Proverbs 8:30-31 says, “Then I (wisdom) was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.” So wisdom is able to laugh always.
“By wisdom a house is built and through understanding it is established,” according to Proverbs 24:3. Beth Moore describes that as meaning that wisdom builds the dwelling and understanding secures it. The Hebrew word that is translated established there is kun. It means to be established, be steadfast, be reliable, be certain, be ready, be prepared. It signifies initial preparation, actual preparation for the future event. It also signifies the deep satisfaction and sense of well being which comes from the certainty that our hearts steadfastly trust in the Lord who directs our paths. Because God has made the initial preparation, we can trust Him to direct our paths.
Psalm 112:7-8 says the righteous man “will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, he will have no fear, in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.” Psalm 37:23 says, “If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumbles he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand”.
My daughter and granddaughter love the movie Enchanted. To be honest, I’d have to say I love it too. We were watching it for about the seventh time a few days ago. It had been a difficult day. Anna was missing her dad, Livy was missing her mom. Both were out of town on business. It was raining…again. It wasn’t the happiest of days, but it was obvious they were both really into the happily ever after of the movie. After it was over, Anna said, “I love this movie. It shows there is a happily ever after even when it doesn’t look like there could be.” It’s true. God is into happy endings and happily ever afters. He sees today, but He also sees how the story ends.
So how does all this help us laugh always? How does it prepare us for bad news or disaster? How do we know that happy endings apply to us? I don’t know about you, but hearing that I need to be righteous or that the Lord needs to delight in my way for it to happen doesn’t always make me laugh. Well, my eight year old…the one who is reading over my shoulder right now says she has the perfect verse to go here. It’s John 3:16. She’s right. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” On my own I’m not righteous. I’m no match for Satan. I do a lot of things that would keep God from delighting in me. But I have believed in and continue to trust the one who built this world with wisdom and understanding.
God told His children who were in captivity because of their disobedience in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” And Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Nothing takes God by surprise. Proverbs 16:4 tells us “The Lord works out everything for his own ends…” And our history with God can tell us His own ends will be good.
Deuteronomy 32:4 says, “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” God is the Rock. Lean on Him. He can hold you up. Try leaning on anything or anyone else and see what happens. Job 8:13-15 says it like this, “Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless. What he trusts in is fragile, what he relies on is a spider’s web. He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.” Beth Moore takes the spider web analogy a step further to say that we will become entangled in a sticky mess when we lean on anything or anyone but God.
So how can we laugh when nothing is funny? We can lighten up and laugh by understanding who God is. We can laugh at the days to come because God planned for them all in advance and He planned that one day we would live with Him, happily ever after.
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