All to God's Glory

We awoke this morning to a Narnia landscape! 

The trees were draped in white. It was beautiful! 

I went out to the back porch and just looked and listened. 

The sky was deep, clear blue.

And the morning sun was shining on nearly ten inches of snow from the winter storm. 

All was quiet except for happy birds singing and praising God. 

They loved it, too!

 We threw seed out for them and watched from the kitchen window.

There's been so much snow that we've been feeding them on the porch 

and throwing seeds under the bushes for them.

 

Cute little birds tracks on the porch.

Mr. Cardinal took a moment to thank us.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

~ Psalm 19:1 ~

There is no work which God has made 

in which so much of the glory of God appears 

as in a man who lives quietly in the midst of adversity.

~ Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

Contentment ~ That Even Proportion

The world is infinitely deceived in thinking that contentment lies in having more than we already have. Here lies the bottom and root of all contentment, when there is an evenness and proportion between our hearts and our circumstances. That is why many godly men who are in a low position live more sweet and comfortable lives than those who are richer.

~Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

Painting ~ Young Mother Sewing, Mary Cassatt 1844-1926
Wiki Commons  public domain

Complaining—Communicating a Troubled Heart

My Beloved and I are at that age now when we read the obituaries each day. It’s all too often that someone we’ve known has passed on. It’s good to see that many people are now living into their 90s, some even beyond that. The years are longer and so are the eulogies. From what I read and hear, some of those folks would have been a joy to know. But I often wonder when someone makes a comment that they never heard him or her complain. I often wonder--why not?

  

Perhaps they mean the type of complaining that the Jews did in biblical history when they rebelled again and again against God. Or maybe it’s the complaining we’re admonished against in Philippians 2:14, which is more often translated as grumbling, which could be grumbling against God, against our family or friends, or at the sales clerk. Complaining or grumbling is often linked with disputing in scripture. And, of course, the scribes and Pharisees complained about Jesus and disputed with him.

But what about the man after God’s own heart—King David. He wrote in Psalm 142:1-2—“I cry aloud with my voice to the LORD; I make supplication with my voice to the LORD. I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him.” And there are other such Psalms that speak of a very troubled, complaining heart. Most of us have complaints. It is well that we take them to God.

But how are we to “encourage the fainthearted” (1 Thess.:1:4) if they don’t 'complain'? How are we to know they are troubled or about to give up or are depressed and everything is sad? Why are they not ‘complaining’ to us? Do they feel like they won’t be heard? Do they feel like they would be viewed as unspiritual or as a burden? What would we think of them? How can we bear someone's burdens if they don’t ‘complain’ about them?

Lest you think I’m condoning complaining about not getting our own way, or not having what we want, or shaking our fist at God, I’m not in the least. Perhaps I’m taking issue with the word ‘complain.’ Perhaps there are those who are angels among us. And I do believe there could be…and they don’t complain. My point is that we need to hear and bear one another's burdens. We need to share our own burdens with those who love us and not be stoic with one another.  We are instruments in the hands of the Redeemer to encourage one another, to help one another see God and His ways in our trouble, and to help the disposition of the heart become calm and contented.

I’ve been reading The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs (1559-1646). I think he agrees.

“Though a Christian ought to be quiet under God’s correcting hand, he may without any breach to Christian contentment complain to God. As one of the Ancients says, though not with a tumultuous clamour and shrieking out in a confused passion, yet in a still, quiet, submissive way, he may unbosom his heart to God. Likewise he may communicate his sad condition to his Christian friends, showing them how God has dealt with him and how heavy the affliction is upon him, that they may speak a word in season to his weary soul.”

We urge you, brethren,
admonish the unruly,
encourage the fainthearted,
help the weak,
be patient with everyone.
(1 Thessalonians 5:14)

Painting~By the Way, Daniel Ridgeway Knigh
Wiki Commons public domain