Troubles and Joys

II Corinthians 4:18   

So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.

O my Father, You are the God of the Universe; You are El Shaddai, God Almighty. Yet You have looked down and seen us, who are made of dust. You steer the planets in their courses and call them by name, and You count the very hairs on our heads. Your love is totally unfathomable to our human understanding; You care for our every need, and generously provide for us out of Your riches in glory. You take us out of the miry clay and set our feet upon the Rock. You love us just as we are, but You don't leave us there; Your work in us is molding and shaping us into the people You created us to be. And all the trials and troubles we experience now are serving to teach us Your ways.   

My Own Understanding

Proverbs 3:5-7   

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.   

O my Father, teach me to not trust my own understanding, even what I think I understand of You and Your word! I know I come across as very confident in my own understanding of what You have said, but let my confidence be in You, not my understanding of You, which would be being wise in my own eyes. Father, keep me humble in my submission to You; that Your glory would be foremost in my life, and that I not promote myself, but You. I know that my understanding of You and Your ways is still incomplete no matter how much I study and find answers to questions that come up; until I am perfected at the time of Your Glorious Appearing, when I am changed and rise to meet You in the clouds, and then evermore to be with You, my Lord.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!