Another Book Report. Please Don't Fall Asleep.

I have finished reading Sacred Thirst by M. Craig Barnes. Finally. It was a very thought provoking book. I hope that by writing some things out here that struck me I will remember what I read. (I wrote another "report" on this book here.)

In the last chapter of the book, the author was talking about making choices in life and how we try so hard to discern God's will. He quoted a verse from Ecclesiastes 9:7.

Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has long ago approved what you do.

And he goes on to say:

This wonderful, but typically overlooked, verse ought to be remembered when we are begging God for direction but hearing nary a word from Him. Maybe He has already approved our choices.

The author talks about people coming to him to talk about some momentous choice they are facing and make it clear they are seeking God's will. He says:

After we finish praying, there is usually still no burning bush or burning conviction. As these folks leave my office, I often wonder if perhaps God hasn't put His hands in His pockets, shrugged His shoulders and said, "It really doesn't matter either way, because I love you."

If God wants us to get to a certain place in life or have a certain companion along the way, we won't be able to miss it. Remember, though, God is a lot more concerned about WHO we are than WHERE we get to, or even who our companions are along the way. His invitation to us is to spend a lot more time praying to know His heart than His will. Of course, as we draw close to His passionate love for us, we are changed - which is after all, always His will. Everything else is a free expression of gratitude.

It doesn't matter where we work, or with whom we establish a relationship, or how we try to package our lives - it all belongs to the Father anyway. It still gives Him enormous joy when we eat our food with joy and drink our wine with a merry heart, simply because He delights in our delight.

When we have become convinced that we are the beloved of the Father, the whole world opens up to us as an opportunity to express our gratitude. Our many choices about jobs, relationships, and ministries are never more than ways of selecting wrapping paper for the life we present as a surprising gift to God. It just doesn't matter much how we choose to make the gift. What matters is the identity of the person making the gift.

Have you embraced your identity as the beloved - the Father's gift to you? That's what matters. That's the "will of God." And it is the only thing that will satisfy your thirst.

I recently watched some home movies from 11 years ago. It was the Christmas my kids were 7 and 10. Both of them had made me presents. Megan had drawn pictures (or as she wrote: pickturs) and made the pages into a book. Caleb had woven something in art class at school. It didn't really matter to me that the gifts were not perfectly made. What thrilled me as a mother was the excitement in the kids' eyes as they presented their surprises to me. Their hearts were wanting to please me. I "delighted in their delight."

I remember 25 years ago this month a wonderful man I was in love with asked me to marry him. I remember laying in bed that night, praying, "God is this your will?" And I heard, "Whatever your heart desires, my child." This was God speaking Psalm 37:4 to me! I am so humbled that my great, powerful God sees me as His beloved. The gift of Pete to me is far beyond what I expected.