(Updated from original 2015 post)

Sometimes God provides blessings knowing that they will reveal a divided heart and direct us towards understanding that God has placed eternity in our hearts!

Sometimes God uses us to reveal darkness in others, this is often when we learn humility and how to love sacrificially

Sometimes God brings us others to expose our selfish nature, this is often when our self-awareness becomes our sin-awareness

Sometimes God will show us the future to see if we can wait…Other times God allows a cloud of mystery to see if we can trust… this is the place where we learn contentment…

Sometimes God will give us the best in life to show us what we value, and sometimes He takes it all away when the roots of our faith prove shallow… this is the place where we find our resolve

Sometimes God isolates us so our roots of faith grow deep, and often He quietly waits while our spirit of discontent resists… this is the place where pride bleeds out…

Sometimes God shines a light on things that need to go, often they are things we are proud of… this is the place where our temporal identities fade and our eternal identity comes into focus

Sometimes God allows us to fall hard because love must be tough… this is the pure love of the discipline of the Father!

Sometimes God allows blessings for His own to spill over to others and sometimes it’s this ancillary grace that brings others to know Him, for our good and His glory, we have a role to play sharing in God’s love for the world…

Sometimes God will let people freely run to their sin, and though it breaks His heart, He knows that for some, this world is the best they will ever have, this too breaks our heart, but sometimes God’s bigger purpose is to breaks us further when we witness that the mercy of God and the grace of God reaches much further than I would ever allow…

Sometimes God doesn’t make sense to me and sometimes I am not okay with that, but this is how my faith and trust grow; over time I grow a heart of gratitude and become thankful to see that God is bigger than I can imagine, and my faith is rooted deeper…

Through it all, these slithers of time are woven together in a tapestry that only God can see, and through time the eyes of my heart have seen Sovereign Grace on display, and these words remind me that the story is still unfolding; and though I am impatient, though I get anxious, though my prayers have gone unanswered, I am prompted to remember that God, my Father, through love, discipline and the sustaining power the Holy Spirit and the administration of the peace of Christ, is revealing a picture that is good, a picture of love, joy, and peace, fueling faith and hope beyond what I can ask or imagine, and it is in those times that I am so thankful that Sometimes God reminds me that He is still God!

(Job 1:21; Ecclesiastes 3:11; Matthew 7:13; Psalm 86:11; Proverbs 16:2; Hebrews 13:5; 2Corinthians 12:10; Psalm 51:11-13; 2Samuel 12:1-20; Deuteronomy 8:2-5; Genesis 32:24-30; John 4:39; Genesis 24:21; Romans 8:28; Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 3:20)      

Prayer: Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have fed us with spiritual food in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.  Send us now into the world in peace and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart, through Christ our Lord. Amen!