2-1-24

It’s been a hard morning. 

4:45 am – Kylo starts yipping because he wants out.  It’s getting earlier and earlier every day.  It must stop! Extremely annoyed.  Angrily let the dogs out.  Didn’t feed them – can’t reward BAD behavior.  It’s got to stop!  Yelled at them to go lay down as I went back to bed.

6:15 am – Kylo yips some more.  Ignored him.  I want to get him to wait until 7:00 when the Normal time to feed them is.  Ignored him, went back to sleep.

6:55 am – Kylo yips some more.  Dogs are restless. Make them wait until the 7:00 am town whistle blows. Let them out. Feed them.  Izzy won’t eat.  He’s looking for reassurance from me because I had gotten mad at them earlier.

7:30 am – I finally get ready to sit down, eat, and have a quiet time (as if my mood could talk to God right now…but I’m going to try).  I check the dog beds first and find one of the dogs threw up in one of them.  Throw it in the basement to clean up later.  Clean the floor.  It was probably Izzy – that’s why he didn’t eat and was looking for reassurance.  Now I’m annoyed about having to clean up this mess but angry at myself for my lack of compassion.

7:45 am – I finally sit down to eat and have a “quiet time” and try to pray some pious sounding prayer that went as far as the ceiling and probably annoyed the snot out of God (the attempt at prayer annoyed the snot out of me anyway).  I started sneezing and snorting and making some obnoxious noises when the thought hit me “man I am really blowing it.  How does God put up with mankind’s horribly annoyingful sinful behavior including mine right now?”

My prayer changes to what God has recently taught me to pray – “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, Your Name be praised.”

He led me to Paul’s Doxology in Romans 11 asking me to read and write on this today:

Romans 11:33-36 NIV1984

• “33  Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and  knowledge of God! 
  • How unsearchable his judgments,
  • and his paths beyond tracing out!  
• 34  “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
  • Or who has been his counselor?”   
• 35  “Who has ever given to God,
  • that God should repay him?”   
• 36  For from him and through him and to him are all things. 
  • To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

My thoughts focused initially on verse 36.  Everything in creation, including me, comes from Him, is for Him, and is there for His glory.  All the annoyances I spoke of earlier are inconsequential in the scheme of eternity.  I don’t know why and can’t understand why God does what He does.  I can only accept that it is for His glory.  God knew that sin, death, and suffering would enter into His creation yet He created anyway!  He lovingly provided a narrow path in Christ Jesus that would lead back to Him for those who are willing to follow it.  My thoughts go again to Philippians 3:8-9 – “8…I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ  9  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,  but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”

Even the righteousness that comes by faith that allows me to know God is “from Him, through Him, and to Him.” The faith is a gift that He provides and is for His glory.  I can’t search out His judgments, trace His paths, know His mind, be His counselor, or give anything to Him that would oblige Him to have to repay me!  It is His righteousness, His faith, His salvation.  In spite of me, He loves me and gave Himself for me.  My only response can be to give myself to Him, love Him, obey Him, and tell others of the wonderous love, mercy, and grace of God.  To Him be the glory forever!  Amen

*(Image from “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” copied from Wikipedia and edited using Microsoft Paint)