Sleepless night thoughts

A couple of thoughts that come together...

There is a song that is written by a youth pastor who had a close friend and fellow youth pastor die in an accident. The two were very close. The surviving friend wrote a song called "How He Loves Us" that David Crowder covered. There are a lot of great lines in that song. My favorite is, "I don’t have time to maintain these regrets, when I think about, the way He loves us…"

Many times I, and I suspect you, get caught in this ridiculous self centered trap of regret or anxiety or feeling sorry for our situations. But my heart yearns for the truth of the sentiment of this line in this song to ring deep in the darkest corner of my soul. That I would not waste time on self centered pity parties, and instead rest and bask in the overcoming knowledge of the love of Jesus.

It is not that I am loved and I have my health and wonderful kids and friends and family and as a result count my blessings and thank God for them. It is that the love of a savior that is compelling me to worship and breath in deep the contented exuberance that His love leaves me with has made me forget about the momentary difficulties that are results of living in a fallen world.

Uncertainty of future, strained relationships, physical pain, struggle with sin, broken relationship, idiotic people, financial struggle and so much more are so very small.

The second thought comes from Hebrews 12:3. I am begging God tonight to give me a grace gift of endurance and strength. I am asking God to allow me to consider Jesus and all that he endured until I receive and God granted resolve and strength that Jesus left the Garden of Gethsemane with.