Day of Praise

Thur, 07/20/17, "Day of Praise"

"[Jesus said,] Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me." - John 14:1

I loved being a kid. Everyday, for the most part, was fun. I really don't remember ever planning anything. I just woke up, and then I either played or did what I was told to do. Of course, when I finished what I was told to do, then I could go back to playing. 

What a wonderful life--being a kid and all. 

And then one day, (I don't quite remember when), I grew up. 

Every single day had a plan. I had to do this. I had to study for that. I couldn't forget that one thing. And I had to help out with the other thing. 

Now life was filled with things that others told me to do. And then when I was done with their things, I didn't go back to playing. I needed to do my things. 

I was a grown up.

There was one thing, though, that I didn't ever plan for, but it seemed to always find it's way into my schedule, namely, trouble. Heart trouble. No, not physical heart trouble, though in October 1999, I flat-lined twice, but that's a story for another day. 

No, the heart trouble that found its way into my schedule was not physical. It was spiritual, relational-to-God heart trouble. 

The reason the heart trouble would find its way into my schedule is because I would pretty much leave the Lord out of my schedule. 

Unless, of course, the Lord was scheduled into my schedule. 

Ya know, like "I gotta go to church." Or "I gotta go to Bible study." Or "I gotta...". You get the point. 

But here's God's point in today's verse: God doesn't want to be scheduled into our life. He wants to be our life. He doesn't want to be, "If all else fails, then I'll try God." He wants to be our Plan!!! As in "Here's the way my day's gonna go; it's gonna go God's Way." That's why Jesus said (shortly after today's verse), "I am the Way!"

And if God is my plan for the day, if God is my Way through Christ, then when something tries to find it's way into my schedule that's not planned, namely, trouble, then guess what? I'm not gonna let it in. I'm not gonna let my heart be troubled because if God is leading my schedule, then trouble's gonna have to get through The Scheduler. And if The Scheduler lets something in, then he will also put boundaries on whatever he lets in because God is in charge of trouble and anything else that might come our way. 

We need only to believe. 

"[Jesus said,] Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me." - John 14:1

Praise God!