Lent Day 22 - Wednesday

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28)

  I make no claim to be a biblical scholar. When in seminary, I suffered through various Old and New Testament classes, Exegesis, Apologetics, Preaching, Counseling, Paul’s life and so on and so on. Possibly one of the more popular, most-quoted verses is above and many people use it daily as they claim this promise. When I choose a new Bible translation, this is one of the verses I always look at to see how it is worded. It always bothers me when a translation/version does not have the word “together.” It doesn’t change the meaning of the scriptural thought, it’s just a personal thing….I just like to have that word together in there. God takes all the little things, stirs them up together and they come out for our good….in His plan for us.

  I had quite a number of things planned to do yesterday, but one little blinking light (and dinging bell) on my dashboard changed all that. The “Service Engine Soon” light came on last night and, paranoid as I am, had to go get that checked out today. For all I knew, I already had a lingering electrical fire just waiting to burst forth under the front seat. That visit to the car place lasted longer than I had wanted; a wreck on Hwy 20/81 heading into McDonough had the road closed, so me and half the population of Henry County were wiggling through little back roads to get around; when I finally got home there were some other things that had come up that I needed to deal with, so the day finally came to an end with nothing done that I had planned. But, when I looked back over the day, I realized that I had gotten to spend some quality time with my thoughts, with God and…well, with just me. That type of day happens far too rarely. So, it was a good day. I am rested.

  All things worked together. My tendency has always been to schedule my days away and if any disruption comes to my plans, I get snarky and out of sorts. I forget that God has His plans for me, has His timing and may need to catch my attention. If I pray for more time with just me and God, I get it. If I pray for more time to give for others, some meeting or plan changes so that I do have the time. I just need to look at it as God working it all out for me together with everything else going on in my life. He knows my life, my mind, my attitudes and, most importantly, my heart.

  Think about the disruptions you have each day that may throw you out of sync. Maybe God is trying to get your attention for some reason. Maybe He is working out your schedules so that He can be a part. Maybe you need to look at the bigger picture and see how it is working together.

And for today my friends, this has been the gospel according to Jimmy. Blessed be the Name of the LORD!