Meditating and pondering the thought

[Oopsie Daisey]

I was sitting here and meditating how God's awesome power and I realized that I had totally lost respect for His power and His greatness. It is like He became anemic and frail unable. I had no respect for Him and wanted to shun anything that had to do with His power good or bad. I also realized that it was lost in the obscurity of man trying to make himself so great to me and make himself so powerful that I lost my focused.

I didn't realize how little God had become until I took out the things that made Him great. Yeah, I wanted to ditch my pain (which is okay, who don't) and I wanted to point fingers (that is normal for a moment) and I wanted to be selective and only put in God what I wanted Him to be. But that doesn't give me the real God or the real picture. It is so hard to see that God's thoughts and ways are higher and not like ours and why do I and others keep trying to box God in to a picture frame..... ?????!!?

It is pretty scarey to have a God who knows more than I do because I risk being reduced again... I guess I really need to be humble which is virtually impossible for me to just do. It usually means a process for me. It is really incredible that God can't be boxed to a definition or a process, or rule of thumb. Gosh, I just wished I hadn't of tossed so many things out with the bathwater like God with the rest of the things. I am sure glad He understands and has healing balm for my mind and my life. :)

[Florence]

As I read your meditations and ponderings, I just become overwhelmed with the thought that God's heart is so incredibly big for you, Melanie. It has taken me a long, long time, but I think I am starting to "get" the fact that God's power and greatness is not manifest in His being "out to get me" if I don't do everything right or if I find my faith faltering. God is FOR me and He is FOR you. He wants the best for us. He wants to take us in His arms and comfort us and sing over us and let us know that in His arms is where we can find safety and rest. That's where we really experience His power - in the security of knowing that we have a Father who loves us and will never give up His pursuit of us.

Praying that you will constantly remember to lay your head on His chest and hear His heart beating with love for you . . .

Florence

[Oopsie Daisey]

As I read your meditations and ponderings, I just become overwhelmed with the thought that God's heart is so incredibly big for you, Melanie. It has taken me a long, long time, but I think I am starting to "get" the fact that God's power and greatness is not manifest in His being "out to get me" if I don't do everything right or if I find my faith faltering. God is FOR me and He is FOR you. He wants the best for us. He wants to take us in His arms and comfort us and sing over us and let us know that in His arms is where we can find safety and rest. That's where we really experience His power - in the security of knowing that we have a Father who loves us and will never give up His pursuit of us.

Praying that you will constantly remember to lay your head on His chest and hear His heart beating with love for you . . .

Florence
Dear Florence:

I wanted to thank you for commenting and sharing. I don't know if you get the daily meditations or Christian Recovery but I thought I would post this since it seems to be along the same vein as we are in and it just seems too incredible to believe and yet that is all that is asked. Here goes the post... I loved the meditation this morning. Thank you for sharing. Melanie

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NACR Daily Meditation for Monday, Sep 27, 2004

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A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you
are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and
touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!"
Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.Matthew 8:2-3


There is a wonderful simplicity about this story - it summarizes a great
deal of life in a few words. A man recognizes his need, comes, kneels, asks,
is touched by Jesus and is cured. Many of us are living this story. We recognize
our need. We come. We kneel. We ask. We await God's touch. We experience
God's healing.


We would like our recovery to be just this simple. We want recognizing our
need to be simple. We want our 'coming' to be simple. And we want our 'kneeling'
to be simple. And we want our 'request' to be simple. And we want God's
touch and healing to be immediate, tangible, simple.


There are, unfortunately, a few complications. For people who have lived
in denial, 'recognizing our need', 'coming' and 'kneeling' are all major
changes in the way we normally function. We have grown so accustomed to
(and so attached to) our dysfunctions! So, recovery requires change. And
change is always difficult - even when we call the change a 'healing.'


What is most helpful in this text is Jesus' clarity about his desires for
us. Those of us who have been damaged by shame can expect to be uncertain
about God's desires for us. Jesus is clear that it is God's desire for us
to be healed. Our Healer wants to give us the gift of wholeness. When we
recognize our illness and we 'come' and 'kneel' and 'ask', then there is
no uncertainty in Jesus' response. He says "I am willing for you to
be free of this affliction. I want health and joy for you.


I'm not sure you want to heal me, Lord.
Are you willing?
Or are you eager to punish?
Are you the god-of-impossible-expectations?
Are you pleased when I suffer?
Or are you willing to heal me?
I need healing, Lord.
But, more than healing, I need you.
Help me today to experience your desire to heal.
Help me today to experience your eagerness to heal, Lord.
Prepare me to receive your gift of healing.
Heal me.
Amen


Copyright 1991 Dale and Juanita Ryan

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Meditations from previous days can be viewed at:

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