Keep Praying My Mantra

Excerpt from Gospel Balm post:  God Has Reduced Me

...


God, of course, is ultimately responsible for all this. Yes, my gracious Heavenly Father, the one who loved me enough to send his Son to die in my place so I could be united to him by faith and credited with his righteousness so I could live with him forever. That Sovereign God is responsible.

He's the one who's ordained all the painful circumstances in my life. He knows that I use my superior intellect as a shield to protect myself when I'm afraid. He also knows how hard I've worked to hide from others, and even from myself, the evidence of my diminution since my chemotherapy. He knows these things about me, and yet he's now reduced me even further.

What am I to make of this?

The only conclusion is that this, like everything else he sends into my life, is for my good (Romans 8:28). After all, he loves me.

I may not understand all the whys and wherefores, but I do know the loving Lord who's ordained my pain. I'm tempted to be ashamed of my reduction, but I'm comforted to realize that the Apostle Paul was not ashamed of his own suffering for this very reason: He knew whom he believed (2 Timothy 1:11,12).

Sometimes this is the only life preserver God gives us to cling to in the stormy sea of life. And it turns out that it's enough. I keep praying my little mantra, "Help me, Lord. Help me," and he does. I believe him, I pray, and he answers.

Thank you, Lord, for any reduction that helps me see myself the way I really am. I'm so small, and you are so great. All I can do is rely upon you. Thank you for being absolutely reliable.

How about you? Can you, will you, trust the very God who has ordained your pain, believing that he's done it for your good, in love?