All's Right With the World

 

Yesterday was a therapy day.  Following the routine of all other therapy days, my session began on the recumbent stepper machine, to warm up my leg muscles.  The machine faces the window, so as usual, while I'm going through the motions on the machine, yesterday I found myself staring out the window and daydreaming.

 

Yesterday's view looked something like this:

 

 

 

As I stared out the window and as my mind was wandering, I found myself recalling a line from Robert Browning's poem Pippa Passes.  The most famous section of that poem goes like this:





 

The year’s at the spring,

And day’s at the morn;

Morning’s at seven;

The hill-side’s dew-pearled;

The lark’s on the wing;

The snail’s on the thorn;

God’s in His heaven—

All’s right with the world!



It's that last bit that grabbed my attention yesterday.  God's in His heaven - All's right with the world.

It's a lovely thought.  But really, there's a lot that's not right with the world right now.  Earthquakes and suffering.  Illness and bereavement.  And let's don't even get started discussing bathroom issues or presidential politics.

We can name a lot that is not right in our world today.  But in spite of all the things that seem not right in our world, Browning was exactly right when he wrote that line.

Because no matter what is going on in the world.  No matter who is elected the next President of these United States, whether Bernie or Hillary or Trump or Cruz. No matter how bad things seem, the absolute truth is that God is in control.

Browning echoes a truth from the pages of Scripture.  No matter what is going on in our world, God is in control.  And so, no matter what our circumstances may be, we can rest in that truth.  God is on His throne.  God is in control.

God's in his heaven - all's right with the world.  (Robert Browning)

"For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.  All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven, and among the inhabitants of earth, and no one can ward off His hand, or say to Him, 'What have You done?'" (Daniel 4:34b-35 NASB)

The Word of the Day

In a comment on one of my Facebook posts, a friend said she was praying "for healing and fortitude" (thank you, Doris!).  Since I read that comment, I've been thinking a lot about that word. 

Fortitude.  mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously.  (from dictionary.com)

Fortitude is not a word we use all that often in our daily conversations.  But it's a good word.  And one that is very appropriate in my circumstances.

I've struggled this week.  Rehab following knee replacement is hard.  Hard.  My surgeon says it's the most difficult of all the joints to rehab.  And it's not just hard physically.  It's hard mentally.  And emotionally.  It's easy to get frustrated and discouraged.

Which is where fortitude comes in.  I'm making good progress in my rehab.  But there are times when it doesn't seem like it.  That's when the frustration and discouragement come - when my feelings get in the way of what I know to be true.

That's true following knee replacement.  It's true in every circumstance of life. 

You may need some fortitude today.  Whether for a physical condition, or a financial challenge, or a relationship, or just because the daily grind of life is getting you down.

That's what I'm praying for today.  Fortitude.  For you and for me.  May God by His Spirit grant us the fortitude we need to face whatever challenge comes our way today.

"Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous!  Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."  (Joshua 1:9, NASB)

A Morning Prayer

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life." (Psalm 143:8 NIV)

Prone to Complain

Come, thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace;  

 Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.

  Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love.

(words-Robert Richardson, music- Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music)

This is one of my favorite hymns.  Perhaps it's one of your favorites as well.
I was thinking about this hymn this morning, particularly a line in the third verse.  That line says, "prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.  Prone to leave the God I love."

The "prone to wander" line leads me to recall the time the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness, after they had left Egypt and before they entered the Promised Land.   We're often "prone to criticize" the Israelites for their wanderings, yet we often "wander" as well, don't we?  We're not always prompt in our obedience to what the Lord tells us to do, which can leave us wandering pretty aimlessly through life.

But today as I have been thinking about that line from the hymn, I've been thinking we could rewrite the line as "prone to complain".    The Israelites complained a lot on their journey through the wilderness.  They complained about the food.  More accurately, they complained about the lack of all the good food they had enjoyed in Egypt.  (I guess they forgot the part about being slaves!)  They complained about the dust.  And about having no water.  Complain, complain, complain.

It's the American way, isn't it?  Complain about everything! We are a complaining people.  We complain about the weather.  And the traffic.  We complain about the time change.  When we don't get our way, we complain.  We complain about taxes.  And about politicians.

There's been a lot of complaining in that regard during this campaign season.  I've watched with interest recently as a particular candidate has complained that the rules are "unfair" to him.  The rules haven't changed, at least as far as I am aware, since the campaign began, so these are the same rules the candidate agreed to from the beginning.  However, now that the momentum seems to have shifted a bit away from him and toward another candidate, the rules have suddenly become "unfair".  And he complains.  Loudly.  And often.

Political candidates are not the only complainers.  We the people complain about all sorts of things.  The weather.  Politics.  The news media.  The government.  Anything and everything.

I know I find myself often doing that. Complaining instead of being grateful.  Shame on us. We're such whiners! Why is that?  Why are we such complainers?  Why do we spend so much time focusing on what's wrong with life and never focusing on what's right with life? Why are we never content, but always finding something else to complain about?  It's too hot.  It's too cold.  It rains too much.  It never rains.  And on and on we go.

We aren't born with a "contentment gene".  Contentment is a learned behavior.  Paul didn't say "I am content."  He said, " I have learned to be content." (Philippians 4:11 NASB)

He also said, "Do all things without grumbling."  (Philippians 2:14 NASB)

How do we learn to be content?  How do we learn to do all things without grumbling?

I confess I have done some grumbling lately.  Every time I go to physical therapy.  Every time I do my therapy exercises here at home.  And at all sorts of times in between. There it is again.  Grumbling.  Whining.  Complaining.

You probably do the same thing.  Maybe not about physical therapy.  But about something.  Or perhaps someone.

How do we get past that?  How do we learn to be content?  How do we learn not to grumble?

We learn that in the same way as we learn anything else.  By practice.  By repetition.  By effort.  By focus.  Focusing on the reasons we have to be content, to be grateful, rather than on the reasons we have for complaining.

Today might be a good day to start.  We often focus on gratitude in the month of November, as we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.  But do we really want to wait until November?  Do we really want to limit our good behavior, our gratefulness, our contentment, to only one month of the year? 

Why not start today?  Just do it.  Start focusing on all the reasons you have to be grateful.  Start focusing on all the things that are right in your world, rather than all the things that are wrong.  Make a conscious effort not to complain!  And if you catch yourself starting to complain or to whine or to grumble, just stop it!  Mid-sentence, if necessary!

To keep your thoughts focused in the right direction, if you haven't already, start a gratitude journal, listing all the things you have to be thankful for.  Every day, add at least one thing to your list.  Make a conscious effort not to complain.

It's a good beginning.  A good way to turn your focus away from complaining and toward learning contentment.

Why not begin learning today?

"I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content......In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me."  (Philippians 4:11-13 ESV, emphasis mine)

Diary of a Knee Replacement. Week Three.

On Monday morning three weeks ago I had knee replacement surgery.  It was out with the old and in with the new.  These three weeks since surgery have gone by very quickly.  My days have been filled with exercise and physical therapy and doctor appointments and my ice machine.  All this will be very familiar to anyone who has traveled this joint replacement path.

I have walked around the house, up and down the hall, and out onto the porch more times than I can count. I have even ventured out to walk on the driveway!  I'm still using a walker, but I'm beginning to practice with a cane.  I'm not ready for full-time cane-walking quite yet, and certainly not quite ready to walk unassisted.  But I'm doing well.  Walking is getting better.  My stamina is increasing.  I'm making good progress.

Besides the walking and the exercises and the trips to physical therapy, I've done a lot of reading.  I finished a couple of books; I started and immediately discarded several more.  I'm currently reading The Braque Connection by Estelle Ryan, a tale of forged masterpieces, hidden messages, kidnappings, and other intrigue.  I'm enjoying it very much.  Once I finish this, I'm planning to read Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg, which was a gift from a friend following my surgery.

On a non-fiction front, I've just begun habits of grace by David Mathis.  Even though I haven't read very far into this one yet, I can already tell you it's one you might want to consider reading.

I've also done quite a bit of TV-watching during these three weeks as well.  I've spent time hopping back and forth between the Food Network and HGTV, with occasional stops at the DIY channel and the Travel Channel.  There was an NCIS marathon one day last week on the USA network, so I was tuned into that for the entire day.  NCIS is, after all, my favorite TV show. 

Other than the progress I've made rehabbing my new knee, I'm most pleased that I have had some productive writing time during these weeks.  I have been blogging, of course, and have a list of potential blog topics I'm considering.  After panicking over my lost notes (the outline, the notes, and the not-yet-quite-completed manuscript), I found all that over the weekend, and am now making good progress on a Christmas devotional I'm writing, which hopefully will be published in time for this year's Christmas season.  In addition, I had an article published on www.prayerideas.org,  a website devoted to prayer.  You can check it out here:  http://www.prayerideas.org/wp/how_to_pray/prayer-lifestyle/improving-your-prayer-life-by-writing-down-lists-and-prayers/

Busy, busy, busy.  Who knew recovering from knee replacement surgery would be such a busy time?

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might."  (Ecclesiastes 9:10 NASB)

Always. But Not Always.

God always answers prayer. 

Sometimes the answer is yes.  Sometimes it's no.  Sometimes it's not right now.

But God always answers.

He just doesn't always answer exactly as we would like Him to.

Last night as we were getting ready for bed, we had our bedtime prayer together.  One of the specific things we prayed for was a good night's sleep.

One of the consequences of my surgery, for me, is a fatigue that never seems to go away.  At least in part, it's because of my RA.  Fatigue is a fact of life.  And having a replacement part hasn't made the RA disappear.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  The stress of major surgery has caused the RA to rear its ugly head, lest I forget it's still there.  As if I could.  So, there's the RA fatigue.  And there's the trying to get comfortable in bed at night, which is easier said than done these days.  Maybe part of my problem is that I'm sleeping too much in the daytime.  But I can't seem to help myself.  I sit down.  I go to sleep.  That's how it is.  So, I'm tired, and could really use a good night of uninterrupted sleep.

Meanwhile, Al is also fatigued.  He still has his "day job" to deal with.  And there's the stress of overseeing his parents' care from a distance.  There's the housekeeping and the cooking and the grocery shopping and the laundry, and all those things I normally do but am unable to do right now.  There are all his responsibilities as my caregiver, dispensing meds and keeping the ice machine filled and driving me to therapy and all those things.  As a result, he is understandably tired.  Very tired.  He could use a good night of uninterrupted sleep.

That's what we prayed for last night.  But things didn't turn out as we had hoped. 

About 2AM, one of our smoke detectors went off.  Just one short sound, and then no more.  Just enough to interrupt sleep.  Just enough to have to get up and try to figure out what's going on.  Just enough to ruin a good night's sleep.

I'm not sure what that was all about.  I'm not sure why, when we had prayed specifically for a good night of uninterrupted sleep, God did not answer in the way we had hoped.

What I am sure of is that God answers prayer.  Always.

I am equally sure that He doesn't always answer exactly as we wish He would.

Last night is proof of that.

Does that mean I should stop praying?

Of course not.

It means I continue to pray.  And to trust.  And to believe that God has a plan and a purpose for all things.  And that His way is best.

Even when I don't understand.

Even when I'm tired.

Because God always answers.  Just not always the way I expect.

Even so, I continue to pray.

And tonight I will pray again for a good night of uninterrupted sleep.  Perhaps this will be the night He says yes.

[Jesus said] "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you." (Mark 11:24 NASB)

[Jesus said], "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."  (John 14:13 NASB)

A Lasting Impact

A friend went to be with Jesus this week.  In recent years, she had waged a valiant battle against cancer.  This week, she lost that battle.

Perhaps it's not completely accurate to say she lost.  Perhaps it's more accurate to say she lost the battle, but won the war.  Yes, cancer took her life.  But today, and for all of eternity, she is in the presence of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  She is spending forever in the presence of the One she loved and served so well here on earth.  She is experiencing the truth of what Paul wrote in Philippians 1:21:  For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

I haven't seen this friend for quite a number of years, but we had stayed connected through e-mail and through Facebook, and more recently, through her CaringBridge posts.  And even though many years have passed, the impact of her life on mine continues.

She was an encourager.  A prayer warrior.  A woman who loved her friends and her family. A woman who loved Jesus with all her being, and who committed her life to helping others know and love Him, too.

Meg lived her life on purpose.

She left us quite an example of what that means.  Countless lives around the world, including my own, have been impacted by this woman who understood what it means to live on purpose.  To be all in for Jesus.  To follow hard after Him.

Many years ago, as we were preparing to leave Minnesota and head into a not-yet-known future, as we were filled with uncertainties while following where God was leading, I received a letter from Meg.  In part, this is what she wrote:

I am praying GRACE and PEACE for you as you finish packing, pull up roots, and prepare to plant them again, as Abraham did, in a "country you know not".  May He make His loving and sovereign control of your lives very evident in lots of little and big ways this season!  Grieve the losses, and look forward to the new and good surprises He has in store.  If possible, at the same time.  If not, then know in His good time He will restore and heal and bring smiles to your face, and along the way, give strength for each new day.

That I still have that letter, that it is a treasured possession, that I can quote it almost in its entirety.  Those things are among the evidences of the impact Meg had on my life.

In these days as the grieving process begins, and life without Meg becomes reality for her family and friends, her words are the prayer of my heart for her husband, her children, for all who knew and loved her.

"May [God] in His good time restore and heal and bring smiles to your face, and along the way, give strength for each new day."

What an impact Meg had on me and on so many others.  What an example she left us.  May we - may I - be as faithful to follow hard after God.  To live my life out loud for Jesus.  To live life on purpose.

"It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  (Philippians 1:20-21 ESV)