Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17
We are called to give thanks. No. Matter. What. It is a practice called for in the Psalms and modeled by both the apostles and Jesus. The command is: give thanks always. Does this mean we should be thankful for all things. No. We are not expected to be grateful for pains and losses. We are certainly not expected to be happy in the face of evil. But we can learn to be grateful in something, even if we cannot be grateful for it. And learning to be thankful in all things will make a huge difference.
Countdown: As of today, there are less than six months until Christmas.
God’s Will: Few questions lead people into a pastor’s office as often as the desire to “know God’s will.” Those asking, generally want to do the right thing and fear missing it. Ten thousand articles have been written about this. I will not repeat all of the good advice, but I will note the three points I try to stress with those asking how to know God’s will: 1) The fact that you are asking is a win. You want His plan. This is great. Be encouraged. He is pleased. 2) Stop and think about what you really need: it’s God, not His will. Perhaps this should change your approach; And 3) Much of what you need to know is spelled out in the Bible. And if it’s not, it may not matter. Just do something. And here I point to Paul’s efforts (in Acts 16) to plant a church in Asia. God didn’t want Paul planting churches in Asia, so He redirected him to Europe. The point is, Paul was not doing nothing until things were clear.
Numbering Our Days: I am officiating at a funeral this week, which made my reading of Psalm 90 significant. Verse 12 reads: Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. The woman who passed away was significantly younger than I am. This is becoming less unusual. It reminds me of stumbling upon a small cemetery years ago. For whatever reason, in addition to including the years someone had lived, every tomb stone also listed how old the person was when they died. And these numbers jumped out at me because as I walked through the cemetery I could not find anyone who had lived to be as old as I was at that time. (The cemetery was in Europe, and the graves were all from the 1600 and 1700s). Life is short. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Quotes Worth ReQuoting:
- Face sin and death or be out of touch with reality. Tim Keller
- All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. J.R. Tolkien
- War is not exceptional; peace is. Worry is not exceptional; trust is. Decay is not exceptional; gratitude is. Selfishness is not exceptional; sacrifice is. Defensiveness is not exceptional; love is. And judgmentalism is not exceptional; grace is. Brant Hanson
Team of Rivals: I recently finished Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s exploration of Lincoln’s political acumen. Read it if you want to marvel at how much we owe our 16thPresident, or be inspired by moral leadership and personal tenacity.
Without Comment:
- After fifty years of decline, there is a spike in the number of American women planning to become nuns. And the age of final vows is dropping. Ten years ago it was forty. Today it is 24.
- According to a 2019 Deloitte study, 77 percent of Americans who watch streaming TV consumed an average of four hours per sitting. Four hours.
- Over three million people have now signed an online petition promising to storm Area 51 of Edwards Airforce Base in Nevada on September 20th. The idea – which started as a joke, and clearly remains that for some if not most of the signers – is that if enough people “storm the gates,” the authorities will not be able to stop them from finding ET (or something of the sort).
Avengers: End Game: In what is now the best-selling movie of all time, Thanos – the Mad Titan – states, “Reality can be whatever I want it to be.” Alas, many now think that is true. We think that if we dream big, work hard and push through the pain we can will whatever into existence. And yet, we are formed for health and healing only after we declare our finitude and dependence on Christ.
Prayer Requests: I am sobered by how polarized our country is, and have started to expect that whoever loses the next Presidential election will dismiss results as having been hacked by Russians (and/or others).
Closing Prayer: In your mercy, Lord my God, tell me what you are to me. “Say to my soul, I am your salvation.” So speak that I may hear you. The ears of my heart are turned to you, Lord; open them and say to my soul: “I am your salvation.” I will run after your voice, and I will lay hold of you. Do not hide your face from me. Let me see your face even if I die, for if I see it not, I shall die of longing. [Amen.] –Augustine (354-430)