Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article Open hands Thursday, February 25, 2010 Matthew 7:7-12 Jesus says, "Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better? "Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God's Law and Prophets and this is what you get. " I tense up when I'm scared. My hands ball into fists sometimes. I need some fire in my belly to get rid of the cramps. I need somebody to yell at me, "RELAX!" Sure. OK. Richard Rohr defines suffering as "whenever you are not in control." Experiencing that and watching it happen is "legitimate" suffering, as Carl Jung called it. When I work too hard to avoid it, that's when I invite the devil's gift, the cramps, the angst, the doubt, the fear. In my frozen tension God whispers, "Just open your hands. I will fill them." This opening-hands-thing is hard work, and takes all the strength I've got. God says, "I will honor you and your effort, David. I will give you what you need. I made you and I know you and I know what you need." Before I ask him? He says so. God doesn't give me more than I can handle. Most of the time my sense of control is not threatened ... and when it is, I get a chance to depend much more consciously on the one who makes all things new. It doesn't get any better than that, does it? Thank you, Father! Everything in me says "Thank you!" Angels listen as I sing my thanks. I kneel in worship facing your holy temple and say it again: "Thank you!" Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness. Most holy is your name, most holy is your Word. The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength. Finish what you started in me, Lord. Your love is eternal. --- Psalm 138, The Message "; Add      Edit    Delete