Ezra 9:13 “What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved and have given us a remnant like this.”

This is the opposite of the common complaint of “Why me?” As such, it is highly commendable in God’s sight. We have so little grasp of how utterly holy God is, and how little we honor that! We need to have the attitude expressed in a Chris Christianson song of about 40 years ago: “Why me, Lord? What have I ever done to deserve even one of the good things You gave?” We should be amazed at God’s grace, not at how our actions and attitudes catch up with us! It’s not at all that God is waiting to zap us, it’s that we work so hard at trying to escape the rules He’s given to protect us. However nothing is less “politically correct” than to say something that would hint that such things as STDs are the natural consequence of ignoring God’s rules. However, ignoring God’s moral laws is on the plane of ignoring the laws of thermodynamics or the law of gravity, if not more so. After all, Jesus could walk on water, and after resurrection could walk through locked doors, but He never even tried to break God’s moral laws. We are not to be legalists, paralyzed by fear that we might break a rule. After all, the Bible says clearly that “the letter [of the law] kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6) Rather, we are to view everything that happens to us as God’s training to point us to Him, and seek to get it right the first time out of love and gratitude towards Him.

At times I’m reminded of something Mother Theresa once said: “I know God will never give me anything I can’t handle, but sometimes I wish He didn’t trust me so much!” I need to remember at all times that everything God does is love, whatever it looks like. The next few months have a packed schedule. I am to look at each thing as an expression of God’s grace and love. Each of them individually might be easy to see that way, but when I look at them in aggregate, I am overwhelmed to the point of wanting to run and hide. That’s no way to receive God’s blessings! I am to walk in faithfulness, remembering that “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)

Father, thank You for Your grace and strength. Thank You for getting us through the day yesterday. I pray that all who attended the meeting in Fukuoka, and those who will attend today, would retain what You spoke to and did in them, to bear abundant fruit. Thank You for the many people we could see, and for how people sought us out. Thank You for Your plans for today. I pray that we would rest, relax, and rejoice in Your goodness, today and each day, so that we won’t miss anything that You want to do for or through us, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!