"We assume the sun will always rise. It always has. But it rises because God continues to will it so, not because it must in and of itself. I breathe, not because I am a smoothly functioning breathing machine, but because He who holds my breath in his hand wills me to breathe, as He wills the squirrel to breathe in the oak grove beside my house and the crow that perches in the scrub pine.
The will of God is not a given quantity. It is creative, dynamic, flowing action. Jesus participated in that action by submitting to the Will and moving with power along the "appointed way," according to the "appointed time," choosing the Father's will above his own.
The sun does no choosing. God chooses--every morning so far--to make it rise. Yet the Lord of the universe asks me to choose to follow Him--to participate, as Christ did, in the flowing action which is his ill. "Dwell in my love. If you heed my commands, you will dwell in my love, as I have heeded my Father's commands and dwell in His love" (John 15:10 NEB)."
~ Elisabeth Elliot, A Lamp Unto My Feet
I am watching the Olympics - I love the Games, and my joy has been enhanced this year as we have satellite and the Games are on pretty much 24 hours a day! Aaron and I enjoyed watching them together last night, and I am home with sick kids this Sunday morning, with a water polo game going in the background. What a pleasure! We watched U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps win his first gold of the Games last night. I was struck by the incongruence of his total athletic prowess, paired with his complete human weakness. He broke down into tears, very obviously against his will, when he said he couldn't find his mother in the crowd after his win. Here is this stunning specimen of humanity, at the height of human accomplishment, crying because he can't find his mother! I pondered this a little further and it struck home, again, that this man relies on God for his every breath, whether he recognizes his need or not. We are not so very different, this Olympic athlete and I. This very moment is a gift to us from God. How humbling! How little control we really have in this world or even this life.
God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. ~ Ephesians 6:10 (Message)
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