While praying with our small groups yesterday, with the women in the morning and our Covenant group in the afternoon, I was once more reminded of the miraculous mystery of how the Sovereign God of the universe still knows my name, hears our supplications for others, and is attentive to our every call on Him when we pray together. He promised; He fulfills; He listens; He answers.
In my devotions this morning, two things seem to come to mind that I must need to know today. The first is a verse from Deuteronomy 30: 20. “Choose to love the Lord your God and to obey Him and commit yourself to Him, for He is your life.” Yes, it is a choice. Second, the hymn words written by Samule Longfellow in 1864 but for us today: “I look to Thee in every need, and never look in vain; I feel Thy strong and tender love and all is well again: the thought of Thee is mightier far than sin and pain and sorrows are./ Discouraged in the work of life disheartened by its load, Shamed by its failures or its fears, I sink beside the road; but let me only think of Thee and then new heart springs up in me. Thy calmness bends serene above my reslessness to still; around me flows Thy quickning life to nerve my faltering will: Thy presence fills my solitude; Thy providence turns all to good./ Enfolded deep in Thy dear love, held in Thy law, I stand; Thy hand in all things I behold, and all things in Thy hand; Thou leadest me by unsought ways, and turnest my mourning into praise.”
We stayed up much too late to hear election news. Regardless of how you voted, or we did, we are thankful for the privilege of making our wishes known at the ballot box. We know that God is sovereign and is working His purpose out. We are called to pray for our leaders that they are attuned to God’s calling on their lives, but recognize that “all is well again” when we commit our ways to Him and obey His call on our lives.
So, I rejoice that God is sovereign, that He manages the affairs of men and all His universe, and that He really does provide what I need, that He does answer our petitions for guidance and the needs of others, and that , as the hymn says, “Let me only think of Thee and then new heart springs up in me.” Amen and Amen.
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