Every once in awhile, I come across something that just stops me in my tracks. That is what this quote did for me this past week. I just sometimes need it straight and simple: "Beth, I know what is best for you." Even when life is confusing, this is the anchor that gives me indescribable hope. So, I thought I would share it with you all, in case you need a little reminder too. =) Let's keep our eyes on the heavenly, my friends... He sees. He knows. He controls. He LOVES.


Believer, if your inheritance be a lowly one, you should be satisfied with your earthly portion; for you may rest assured that it is the fittest for you. Unerring wisdom ordained your lot, and selected for you the safest and best condition. A ship of large tonnage is to be brought up the river; now, in one part of the stream there is sand-bank; should some one ask, “Why does the captain steer through the deep part of the channel, and deviate so much from a straight line?” his answer would be, “Because I should not get my vessel into harbor at all if I did not keep to the deep channel.” So, it may be, you would run aground and suffer shipwreck, if your divine Captain did not steer you into the depths of affliction, where waves of trouble follow each other in quick succession. Some plants die if they have too much sunshine. It may be that you are planted where you get but little; you are put there by the loving Husbandman, because only in that situation will you bring forth fruit unto perfection.


You are placed by God in the most suitable circumstances, and if you had the choosing of your lot, you would soon cry, “Lord, choose my inheritance for me, for by my self-will I am pierced through with many sorrows.” Be content with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordered all things for your good. Take up your own daily cross; it is the burden best suited for your shoulder, and will prove most effective to make you perfect in every good word and work to the glory of God. Down, busy self and proud impatience; it is not for you to choose, but for the Lord of Love!
~ Charles Spurgeon (emphasis mine)

“He shall choose our inheritance for us.” — Psalm 47:4

• Like taking road trips with friends and having those heart-to-heart discussions in the darkness of the car
• Or seeing your entire family hold hands to pray together over Thanksgiving
• Or witnessing a breathtaking sunset that God painted in your favorite colors after a hard day of work
• Or holding a newborn baby
• Or watching newlywed friends decorate their first Christmas tree together
• Or singing psalms until the tears run down your face
• Or staying up late just to be together and laugh (even when you can't remember why the next day)

And the list goes on... and on...

I've been thinking a lot about happiness lately. It's those brief moments when heaven and earth collide and, just for awhile, things feel right with the world. Life seems to shine a little brighter, we breathe a little deeper, and we linger a little longer.

Maybe we even dance a little. :)

It's a strange phenomenon to be happy in this world. Long-term happiness is often viewed as something reserved for the delusional and unrealistic dreamers. After all, we know these moments can't last forever. Sooner or later, the circumstances change, and the emotional roller-coaster dips again.

But I've been thinking about how to maintain happiness - a true kind of joy - even when the circumstances change. When the music stops. The glorious bliss of that dancing moment fades. I'm not talking about surfing from one emotional high to the next. I'm talking about digging down deeper. Much deeper. All the way down to the source.

"How happy a person is depends on the depth of his gratitude." - John Miller

That's it. Gratitude.

The Bible so often interchanges the words 'blessed' and 'happy.' Being blessed with something means that there is a Giver. Any happiness that comes from that blessing is ultimately praise to the One who gave it.

We, as beloved children of our Heavenly Father, are happy people when we are grateful people.

We have been chosen. Forgiven. Redeemed. Delivered. Reconciled. Established. Completed. It's because "Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God..." (1 Peter 3:18)

The world becomes just a little sweeter. The sunset seems a little more brilliant. The deep conversations with friends become more meaningful. Family becomes more dear. The Word of God becomes more alive. Every single thing is able to be enjoyed more fully because of Jesus Christ.

That's happiness.

Doesn't it just make you want to sing?! Standing in the shadow of the cross, knowing that you are loved by the King... it is enough to leave nothing but grateful awe and a joy that far surpasses any other notion.

"The one who knows and rests in the sovereign grace of God should be the happiest saint. Don't be a sour or glum or hostile false advertisement for the glory of God's grace. Praise it. Rejoice in it. And don't let that be a show. Do it in your closet until it is spilling over in the pulpit and in the commons." - J. Piper

I don't know about you, but I certainly need reminded of that from time to time. There's my post-Thanksgiving thought for you all. :) Have a happy, glorious day!

~ Beth

"Behold how blessed such people are! O happy people who can say they have the Lord to be their God!" - Psalm 144:15

This is the thought that started off my week. May it help your perspective on the "ripples" that you send forth this week - whether big or small! :)

"Do small things as if they were great, because of the majesty of Jesus Christ - who works them in us and who lives our life; and great things as small and easy, because of His omnipotence." - Hudson Taylor

My mom passed along this quote to me after knowing of several "unanswered" prayer requests of mine as of late. I found it encouraging and thought some of you might as well. :) I had not thought of silence in this way before. It is a refreshing reminder to refocus my mind on the utter sovereignty of Almighty God, because He waits..."that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you...blessed are all they that wait for Him." (Isaiah 30:18)

How many of us have been blind in our prayers? Look back and think of the prayers you thought had not been answered but now find that God has answered with a bigger manifestation than you ever dreamed. God has trusted you in the most intimate way He could trust you, with an absolute silence, not of despair but of pleasure, because He saw you could stand a much bigger revelation than you had at the time.

Some prayers are followed by silence because they are wrong, others because they are bigger than we can understand. Jesus stayed where He was - a positive staying, because He loved Martha and Mary. Did they get Lazarus back? They got infinitely more, they got to know the greatest truth mortal beings ever knew - that Jesus Christ is the Resurrection and the Life. It will be a wonderful moment when we stand before God and find that the prayers we clamored for in early days and imagined were never answered, have been answered in the most amazing way, and that God's silence has been the sign of the answer. If we always want to be able to point to something and say, "This is the way God answered my prayer," God cannot trust us yet with His silence.

-Oswald Chambers

It couldn’t be true. Abraham looked over at his sleeping son, Isaac, and watched as the moonlight sent silvery streaks over his peaceful tanned face. Itseemed like just yesterday that Abraham had gazed at the star-studded midnight sky as God told him to expect many generations. At his old age, having children was almost laughable. Yet, God kept his promises, and Abraham was now looking at his son. His son! Isaac had grown up and was the light of the old man’s eyes. But now, he could not fathom what he was hearing.

“Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon the mountains which I will tell you.”

It was true. He had heard God correctly. Tears slid down the old man’s wrinkled cheeks as he grasped his son’s hand. Isaac had been given by God, Abraham could not deny that… but now God wanted him back? Questions and doubts rose in Abraham’s mind -- Why, God? Why did you give him if you only wanted to take him away again? He shook his head resolutely, as if to rid himself of the tormenting questions.

With a sigh, Abraham lifted his eyes away from the sleeping boy and out to the eastern sky. It would be light in a few hours. The rising sun would soon silhouette the mountain on which they would climb. He had wrestled long and hard with himself, as he struggled between his love for his son and his love for God. The time had come. Abraham slowly unclasped his fingers and released his son’s hand. He had made the decision.

______________________________________________

The story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 has often been a passage that we turn to in order to read an account of faith. I’ve been musing on the life of this patriarch this morning… trying to “shake the sand out of my sandals” as I put myself in his shoes. Have you ever stopped to consider all of the emotions that must have come surging through Abraham’s veins following the command from God? The Bible doesn’t give an account of his inner turmoil or agony, but I can imagine how it must have been.

Every word that God spoke in this command must have been a sword right to the heart of Abraham. God knew what he cherished the most and He was asking nothing less than complete surrender of the one thing that encompassed everything that Abraham loved.

Only hours later, Abraham would stand on the mountain – with the glistening blade of the knife poised against the blue sky – making the decision once and for all. He would have to prove that his faith was real … not just a casual belief when it was convenient, but a living, thriving, active faithfulness to God and His promises.

I can never seem to get past the agony of that mountain climb in my mind. Perhaps it is because that is the place in the story that I most often find myself … wrestling inside with what I KNOW to be true and what I FEEL. Maybe Abraham didn’t struggle with this … but I know I would have. This is my Isaac: my joy. My promise of the future. Why would I give it up? All rational thought would have said to hang on to what I can see about my future, rather than releasing the only thread of “hope” that my eyes could see. It is an upward struggle against the flesh – to come to that point of suppressing what I “feel” in order that I might take hold of the truth that awaits on the mountaintop.

John Calvin says it this way: “Therefore, in order that we may become docile and obedient to God, it is profitable for us that we should be deprived of our own wisdom, and that nothing should be left us, but to resign ourselves to be led according to His will.” By releasing Isaac in his heart (and thus making it possible to even entertain the thought of slaying him according to God’s command), Abraham was letting go of any earthly wisdom that he possessed, and choosing rather to throw himself completely upon the mercy and truth of his Father. He was saying by his actions: “It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”

If I am to become a useful vessel in the hands of Almighty God, this lesson of surrender is absolutely crucial. “God, by His word, calls us to part with all for Christ, all our sins, tho’ they have been as a right hand or a right eye, or an Isaac; all these things that are rivals with Christ for the sovereignty of our heart; and we must cheerfully let them all go.” (John Wesley)

The beauty of this surrender lies in the character of God Himself. He is not requiring us to give up these lesser joys – without promising to fill us with the Greater Joy.

“Those that are willing to part with anything for God, shall have it made up to them with unspeakable advantage. The promise (verse 18) doubtless points at the Messiah, and the grace of the gospel. Hereby we know the loving-kindness of God our Savior towards sinful man, in that he hath not withheld his Son, his only Son, from us. Hereby we perceive the love of Christ, in that he gave himself a sacrifice for our sins. Yet He lives, and calls to sinners to come to Him, and partake of His blood-bought salvation. He calls to His redeemed people to rejoice in Him, and to glorify Him.” (Matthew Henry)

May this kind of love constrain me to live for something more than just myself. His grace is enough. Whatever is dearest on earth to me pales in comparison to the sacrifice that He laid down for my salvation. May it be said of us, as it was of Abraham …

“No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.” (Romans 4:20)

Picture from Oregon coast – October 2008.

One of the beauties of living as a child of the King is that - no matter what stage of life we are in - we can be channels of His truth. I've been the witness at many weddings this summer and it has been a pure joy to see how God has united the hearts of many dear friends to be a picture to the watching world of His relationship with His Bride, the church. Seeing these beautiful, God-honoring love stories right before my eyes reminds me that there is a deeper purpose for marriage - one uniquely invented and sustained by God Himself. Here is a sneak peek into a few of these celebrations - along with some thoughts about the effects of this blessed union on the individual, couple, and to the world.

"We are souls living in bodies. Therefore, when we really fall in love, it isn't just a physical attraction. If it's just that, it won't last. Ideally, it's also a spiritual attraction. God has opened our eyes and let us see into someone's soul. We have fallen in love with the inner person, the person who's going to live forever. That is why God is the greatest asset to romance. He thought it up in the first place. Include Him in every part of your marriage, and He will lift it above the level of the mundane to something rare and beautiful and lasting." ~ Peter Marshall

"Marriage is not a federation of two sovereign states. It is a union - domestic, social, spiritual, physical. It is the fusion of two hearts - the union of two lives - the coming together of two tributaries, which, after being joined in marriage will flow in the same channel in the same direction... carrying the same burdens of responsibility and obligation." ~ Peter Marshall

“Marriage is patterned after Christ’s covenant relationship to his redeemed people, the church. And therefore, the highest meaning and the most ultimate purpose of marriage is to put the covenant relationship of Christ and his church on display. That is why marriage exists. If you are married, that is why you are married . . . Staying married, therefore, is not mainly about staying in love. It is about keeping covenant.” —John Piper, This Momentary Marriage

Welcome one another . . . for the glory of God.” That is God’s word for your marriage. Thank him for it; thank him for leading you thus far; ask him to establish your marriage, to confirm it, sanctify it, and preserve it. So your marriage will be “for the praise of his glory.” Amen. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Pictures: Michael & Evie (June 14), Eric & Alissa (July 31), John & Rebekah (September 12), Matt & Naomi (September 26) and Nathan & Valerie (October 3) . May God richly bless you all!

It is that time of year again. The calendar on my wall now prominently displays the month of October and I am resigned to say goodbye to the last glimpses of summer. The trees are already donning their fall fashions of brilliant yellows, golden browns, reds and oranges, arraying themselves in one last glorious display. My boots and scarves are finding their way to the front of my closet once again as I embrace the underlying chill in the breeze.