Light in the tunnel
The end of the tunnel came with a perfect 24 hours with a friend. Which leads me to ponder on the greatness of times of just doing things you love.
These are things that I love, and all were done in the space of 24 hrs.
Sunset walks on the beach with a pink and greeny grey sky above.
Good food in a restaurant, after a day of not eating much.
Conversation that swims to the depths and skims the surface of all that goes on in this life.
Pondering the romantic nature of our God and his best kind of intimacy.
Playing beautiful music and having lots of fun playing read music with bongos and guitars.
Drinking wine and eating chocolate.
Buying new shoes.
Lazy mornings.
All these things made me smile. Lots.
And the best thing is all these things come from the one who made us all. Who knew what I needed this weekend, and who knows how to restore my soul. All these times of peace, security, fun and beauty are only possible because of the maker. Who would be enough even without these amazing gifts he gives. It’s the details I love, the putting of people together to support, care for each other and point each other back to Him. The times He takes everything away so we realise He is enough, the moments when some of the Bigger Picture is revealed as we get to see a bit more of the tapestry of this life weaved together.
This does leave me to ponder on whether, sometimes, I love the gifts more than the giver. John Pipers book "A Hunger for God" has found its way into my hands again. He talks about fasting as something to enable us to love the giver more than the gifts, of longing for the Kings coming, of stepping back from the gifts to become aware of the vast all encompassing sufficency of the giver. "God is glorified in us when we aim our behaviour at being most satisfied in him. We may do this by grateful eating or grateful fasting. His gifts leave a hunger for him beyond themselves, and fasting from his gifts puts that hunger to the test." It is good sometimes to turn from the good gifts and look beyond them to the wonderful giver, to drink deep from His fountain and gain satisfaction from Him. Whatever I do with the gifts, I want to spill over in gratitude to the one who gave them and also sometimes restrain from them to remind myself that the Giver is better, much better for who He is, rather than just for what He provides for me. (although I am clearly loving his provision at the moment!)
I'll leave you with the scariest quote.. "Fasting poses the question: do we miss him? How hungry are we for him to come again? The almost universal absence of regular fasting for the Lords return is a witness to our satisfaction with the presence of the world and the absence of the Lord."
These are things that I love, and all were done in the space of 24 hrs.
Sunset walks on the beach with a pink and greeny grey sky above.
Good food in a restaurant, after a day of not eating much.
Conversation that swims to the depths and skims the surface of all that goes on in this life.
Pondering the romantic nature of our God and his best kind of intimacy.
Playing beautiful music and having lots of fun playing read music with bongos and guitars.
Drinking wine and eating chocolate.
Buying new shoes.
Lazy mornings.
All these things made me smile. Lots.
And the best thing is all these things come from the one who made us all. Who knew what I needed this weekend, and who knows how to restore my soul. All these times of peace, security, fun and beauty are only possible because of the maker. Who would be enough even without these amazing gifts he gives. It’s the details I love, the putting of people together to support, care for each other and point each other back to Him. The times He takes everything away so we realise He is enough, the moments when some of the Bigger Picture is revealed as we get to see a bit more of the tapestry of this life weaved together.
This does leave me to ponder on whether, sometimes, I love the gifts more than the giver. John Pipers book "A Hunger for God" has found its way into my hands again. He talks about fasting as something to enable us to love the giver more than the gifts, of longing for the Kings coming, of stepping back from the gifts to become aware of the vast all encompassing sufficency of the giver. "God is glorified in us when we aim our behaviour at being most satisfied in him. We may do this by grateful eating or grateful fasting. His gifts leave a hunger for him beyond themselves, and fasting from his gifts puts that hunger to the test." It is good sometimes to turn from the good gifts and look beyond them to the wonderful giver, to drink deep from His fountain and gain satisfaction from Him. Whatever I do with the gifts, I want to spill over in gratitude to the one who gave them and also sometimes restrain from them to remind myself that the Giver is better, much better for who He is, rather than just for what He provides for me. (although I am clearly loving his provision at the moment!)
I'll leave you with the scariest quote.. "Fasting poses the question: do we miss him? How hungry are we for him to come again? The almost universal absence of regular fasting for the Lords return is a witness to our satisfaction with the presence of the world and the absence of the Lord."
posted by Kath at 7:02 pm
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