ApprehendingGrace.com

I was running late on Thursday. Getting ready for the Bible study Phil and I lead at a local nursing home, everything went wrong. We’re studying Acts and I was modifying a map of Paul’s second journey to make the lines more visible to residents with eyes that don’t see nearly as well as they used to (I can identify with that!). The modification too much longer than I anticipated. Then the printer jammed. I broke a part off the printer while trying to clear the paper jam. So I reconciled myself to only taking half as many copies as I needed. (For this I spent the last hour?) Ten minutes till Bible study is supposed to start. On a good day it’s a 9 minute trip, but there’s construction on Main Street so I have to take the long way. And I hate running in at the last minute. The members of the study are understanding and gracious, but I don’t like the subtle message it sends. Rushing in at the last minute makes them feel like they’re an interruption in our day filled with more important things. Better to get there early and chat a bit.

But I digress. I am sure you’ve had lots of mornings like mine was on Thursday. Maybe every morning is a Thursday morning for you. Before you’re out of the house you’ve experienced failure, frustration and maybe even financial setbacks. Ugh. It doesn’t make for a Christ-centered day. It doesn’t have us carrying the peace of God and joy of living with Him into every situation we find ourselves. I was acutely aware that I was headed into a Bible study feeling less than spiritually ready for it.

God is so Good! On Wednesday evening, we’d had our small group meeting. Phil and I had driven separately (I hate that). On the way home, I had a CD playing louder than usual. I remember thinking as I turned the car off “That’s going to be too loud when you turn the car on tomorrow.” I made a conscious decision not to turn the volume down. That’s very unusual for me.

Thursday morning, then, I got into my car, and plopped my Bible and my maps on the seat next to me, wishing I could deposit my frustration somewhere just as easily. Now for the record, I could have (as you could each time you find yourself in my situation), but I wasn’t thinking about taking every thought captive or rejoicing in the Lord or casting my cares upon Him. I was thinking about too few maps and too little time and hoping Phil had prepared for the actual lesson better than I had.

Then I started my car. Immediately, the words washed over me “Thank You for the way that You love us. How you love us!” Whew! It was like someone had doused me in “relaxation lotion” or something. Instantly every part of me went from wired a bit too tight to no tension at all. Instantly I was at peace. As the song continued “Jesus, Faithful King, Lord with grateful hearts we sing – How great is the love, how great is the love of our Savior” my heart swelled and my faith grew. (Thank you, Paul Baloche, the writer of the song. It’s available on his album Glorious.)

I was still running late, I still had only half the number of copies I needed, and I still had a jammed, broken printer. And all was right with the world!

Thank You, Lord, for the way You love us!

It’s a lesson I need to learn often because this world pulls the lesson away from me every chance it gets – a moment stolen from the world to spend with the Lord makes all the difference. Stopping what I’m doing to worship Him never ruins our day.

Take a worship break:

This entry was posted on Friday, November 16th, 2012 at 9:03 pm and is filed under Blessed Life, Christian Living, God's Love, worship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.