Oswald Chambers always makes me think.....
....and I am learning - I think- that God cares not so much whether I teach school or own a little folk art gallery...These are small things to Him. It's the little things that are BIG to Him....Am I walking with Him minute by minute and obeying him in the DAILY things of life? ...Am I learning (like Paul) to be content in whatsoever state I am? (Phil. 4:11)
The devotional for today in My Utmost for his Highest by Oswald Chambers begins with this verse:
And straightway He constrained His disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side.....Mark 6: 45-52
and says this:
...What is my dream of God's purpose? His purpose is that i depend on Him and on His power now. If i can stay in the middle of the turmoil calm and unperplexed, that is the end of the purpose of God. God is not working towards a particular finish; His end is the process - that i see Him walking on the waves, no shore in sight, no success, no goal, just the absolute certainty that it is all right because i see Him walking on the sea. It is the process, not the end, which is glorifying God.
And he goes on to say...
...If we have a further end in view, we do not pay sufficient attention to the immediate present....
Hmmm....I have spent many years...and tears..."stewing" over what God's will for me is....His ultimate will is for me to learn to be content in whatsoever state I am, and I can only do this if my whole being is focused on Him. I am beginning to have fleeting moments of this....very fleeting....almost intangible...they flutter and flitter on the edges of my being and then go away...
Thank you, Lord, for those fleeting moments.
-Mug
i believe you are absolutely right; it is the small things which matter most. i read today in a magazine that a study was done on happiness, and it turned out that a big house, fancy car, or lots of money in the bank meant very little on the happiness scale; the happiest people were those who indulged in little joys each day, like sitting in a cafè for an hour with a friend, coming home early from work to play with the kids, taking a jog in nature...
ReplyDeleteThere's a wonderful Tolstoy quote; "Don't worry what people think of you, worry about what GOD thinks of you." Don't you love that?
re: this:
ReplyDelete...If we have a further end in view, we do not pay sufficient attention to the immediate present....
- I've heard it said to the effect Yesterday is history - Tomorrow is a mystery - Today is a gift, that's why it's called "the present" :)
Great post, Mug! Oh, how I needed to read that today.... neat that BLOGS of all things can work that way.
ReplyDelete'...If we have a further end in view, we do not pay sufficient attention to the immediate present....'
ReplyDeleteJust today I was reading about the exact same thing in the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I find your God-related thoughts very inspiring. Thank you.
PS. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Ahhh! True "musings" from hither and yon in these comments....more "food for thought":)...Mug
ReplyDeleteAnd I meant to say yesterday, VERY interesting choice of photography! Love the picture!
ReplyDelete