Good evening!
Welcome to your morning coffee! May our Heavenly Father, in the name of His son Jesus, by the Spirit who lives within us, call us into glad-full refuge of His presence. Father, we are your children, your sons and daughters. Protect us! Guard our hearts and minds with your peace. And teach us to sing your songs of joy.
Your Morning Song: "Joy of the Lord" by Rend Collective
Your Morning Scripture: Psalm 5:11
But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
...
I have been experiencing incredible growth in my walk with the Lord recently, and He has brought peace and joy and hope to me far beyond my best hopes. And last night He decided to test my growth, as He likes to do.
Warning,
I will give a tame version of events below,
but it's still a gross picture.
I was in another room when I heard my oldest daughter start throwing up. I ran in to find her just sitting pitifully on her bed, covered in it. And she couldn't stop.
I've been here before. Many of you have. It's stressful. It can be scary for your child, and for you. And as you know is often the case, I wasn't feeling so great either. It can be difficult not to feel overwhelmed, to feel burned out, to feel pitiful yourself.
And yet last night was different, because I was different. My prayers have become filled with scripture (Matthew 6:5-15 and Romans 12:1-2). My Bible reading has become something much more than reading words (Matthew 4:4 and Deuteronomy 8:3). I am the sort of worshipper God seeks (John 4:23-24). And when God grows us in these sorts of ways, He tests us. And it is fitting for me, as a father, that God tested my growth with my children.
I could have been annoyed. Or overwhelmed. Or burned out. But instead, a peace that surpasses understanding lay over my heart and mind and I was able to calmly comfort my daughter and clean her and her bed. My response to her came out of the overflow my heart, and not the emptiness of it.
Because as I took my shirt off and caught her throw-up (dad move) and kept her hair out of the way, all I could feel was peace-full joy. Tired? Yes. Under the weather myself? Yes. But as I have taken greater and greater refuge in God our Heavenly Father, I could be glad. My soul could sing for joy no matter what was happening around me.
Because He is that good.
And because I was different, the situation itself was different for my daughter. I could see how my response, a blessing to me from God, blessed her. She could share in my peace and in my joy, knowing that even though what was happening was bad, my loving, calm, peaceful presence was good. She could take refuge in my response, knowing that she was loved.
We have been welcomed into the peace-full, joy-full presence of our Heavenly Father who loves us by His son Jesus. May we find refuge there. May our souls sing for joy.
No matter what.
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