An iris in the morning sunlight. Look at the sparkle of gold on this petal!I am screening a book for a friend, and of course it has ended up blessing me immensely. I found in it a section of Scripture that has held me up many times before when I am fainting. For some reason, the power of the words in the particular version quoted really struck me last night and again this morning as I re-read them. So indulge me, this morning, as I quote a long segment of Isaiah 40 (NEB):
Who has gauged the waters in the palm of his hand,
or with its span set limits to the heavens?
Who has held all the soil of the earth in a bushel,
or weighed the mountains on a balance
and the hills on a pair of scales?
Do you not know, have you not heard,
were you not told long ago,
have you not perceived ever since the world began,
that God sits enthroned on the vaulted roof of the earth,
whose inhabitants are like grasshoppers?
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
consider Who created it all,
led out their host one by one and called them all by their names;
through His great might, His might and power, not one is missing.
Why do you complain, O Genevieve, why do you say,
"My plight is hidden from the Lord,
and my cause has passed out of God's notice"?
Do you not know, have you not heard?
The Lord, the everlasting God, creator of the wide world,
grows neither weary nor faint;
no man can fathom His understanding.
He gives vigour to the weary, new strength to the exhausted,
Young men may grow weary and faint,
even in their prime they may stumble and fall;
but those who look to the Lord will win new strength,
they will grow wings like eagles,
they will run and not be weary,
they will march on and never grow faint.
or with its span set limits to the heavens?
Who has held all the soil of the earth in a bushel,
or weighed the mountains on a balance
and the hills on a pair of scales?
Do you not know, have you not heard,
were you not told long ago,
have you not perceived ever since the world began,
that God sits enthroned on the vaulted roof of the earth,
whose inhabitants are like grasshoppers?
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
consider Who created it all,
led out their host one by one and called them all by their names;
through His great might, His might and power, not one is missing.
Why do you complain, O Genevieve, why do you say,
"My plight is hidden from the Lord,
and my cause has passed out of God's notice"?
Do you not know, have you not heard?
The Lord, the everlasting God, creator of the wide world,
grows neither weary nor faint;
no man can fathom His understanding.
He gives vigour to the weary, new strength to the exhausted,
Young men may grow weary and faint,
even in their prime they may stumble and fall;
but those who look to the Lord will win new strength,
they will grow wings like eagles,
they will run and not be weary,
they will march on and never grow faint.
I don't run this race alone. I don't accomplish my daily goals in child training, homemaking, and serving my husband alone and with my own reserve of power, energy, patience, or peace. I have unlimited access to the mercy seat of my most high God and to Him I go to beg for help in these difficult days of stops and starts, literal physical falling and getting back up. Who am I to accuse God of not caring, or not noticing, or not intervening? Who am I to attempt to decipher His reasons for these troubles of mine? Might He not be growing children who are more compassionate and equipped to serve others, physically, emotionally, spiritually? Might He not be testing my marriage and proving it for the years to come, when Aaron and I hope to serve on the mission field together? Might He not be strengthening my husband, establishing him further as the head of this household, with the normal vigor of me, his wife, lessened and subdued? Might He not be allowing me to prove Satan wrong, as Job did? Might He not be removing my reserve of human strength and motivation so that I can learn, once again, to lean solely on Him for grace, strength, endurance?
I want to share this great blog with some real, concrete tips for being gracious when you're not feeling like it! I'm sure I'm going to read this more than once myself...
Walking with Grace When You Have No Grace
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