Mon, 6/6/16, "Day of Praise"
"so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints," -- Ephesians 1:18
So we had a miraculous family vacation last week. Amongst the miracles was the wonder of me running from France to Germany in six minutes! I'm serious! One minute, I'm standing in a pastry line in France with my wife, Amanda, and daughter, Calley, when Calley says, "Oh no, we forgot Cassidy's caramel apple!" So at 8:53, I sprinted out of France and ran past Morocco, Japan, America, and Italy and arrived in Germany at 8:59 p.m. just as they were closing the German Caramel Kitchen for the 9:00 fireworks in Disney's EPCOT Park. See! Six minutes! And the prized apple was purchased and carried ceremoniously from Germany to Cassidy down the street.
But that wasn't the biggest miracle on our vacation. There was also the miracle of the five of us teaming together to lock the keys in the car in Monticello, Florida. Yes, I was driving so I should have taken the blame, but, after pumping the gas, I tossed the keys in the car in case the other four in my family, aged 17 to 36 wanted to turn on the air conditioning. How was I to know that none of them heard me say, "Here are the keys!"? After all, they've all always listened to me all the other times I've ever spoken. (And if you believe that, I'll sell you some swamp land in Monticello, Florida.) But as always, God did work for good, and for the next hour and a half, while waiting for AAA lockout service, we got to visit and pray with cashier Rosalyn about her despair and joke around with cashier Herman who said he didn't need prayer (even though he was good humored in telling us all his woes).
But that wasn't the biggest miracle either, I still think the biggest miracle on our vacation was the look of amazement on my family's face when I lost my reading glasses on Tuesday and told them I just wouldn't read my phone, or anything else for that matter until I got to church on Sunday morning. That meant no Day of Praise devotionals or reading about Tennessee football or reading dessert menus at dinner, and there was aaaaaaa LOT of dessert to read about!!!
But through all this vacational rambling, here's the point, I couldn't see clearly. Ya know, without my reading glasses. And trying only gave me a headache. Because I didn't have the right tool, I couldn't see anything clearly when it came to reading and understanding and making the most of that part of life.
That's what God's talking about in today's Bible verse. And that's why I INTENTIONALLY put this devotional in crazy large font. Ya can't see clearly. Ya know, without your reading glasses, I mean "eyes of the heart." And trying only gives you a headache. Because you don't have the right tool, you can't see anything clearly when it comes to reading and understanding and making the most of that part of life, ya know the spiritual part, which is the part that makes every relationship worth having. And the way you get "eyes of the heart", ya know, to see clearly and all, is through a simple trust,
that there is a God,
and he's in charge of everything,
and being in charge of everything, he really does work through all things together for good,
like forgetting caramel apples and car keys and reading glasses wherever in the world (of EPCOT) they may be. And we know all this through a simple trust in that Mighty God's word, ya know, God's Son, Jesus, who showed us what's plain for anyone with eyes of the heart to see, that mighty God loves using his might in mercy and grace, to take a whole bunch of mistakes and turn them into miracles. After all, he took our worst mistakes of sin on himself unto death on the cross and turned the whole thing into the salvation of the world.
So, here's guessing that whatever comes your way today, God's up to seeing it through for good for you too! Looks pretty clear to me. And I pray it will for you too. Ya just need the right equipment. Spiritual reading glasses. Known in the Bible generally as faith, but specifically, faith in the person and work of God's Son, Jesus Christ.
Praise God!
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