This week has been a great display of God’s love and mercy. It wasn’t without its troubles, but even in the difficulty God was so very evident that you could almost see His fingerprints on each and every situation.

Spring is here.

We shaved our collie

so that he doesn’t have to suffer in the heat (whenever it decides to get hot again). We’ve managed to get our flowers planted and growing, and my mother’s garden is coming along quite nicely.
In the midst of this, I’m inundated with work – which is awesome. There’s stuff going on at church, galleys coming to me next week, a June 30th deadline for the book I’m writing, and a half-dozen other complications of life in between, but God’s faithfulness has been so evident.

Even so, I am terrible about worrying, especially when it deals with loved ones, but God is taking me gently through that as well. I know that God is in control – which is a huge improvement over the first 40+ years of my life when I thought I was or that I should be. It hasn’t been easy dealing with my disease of “control-itis”, especially since it was accompanied by a severe case of “congestive fix-it-itis”. But with heavy doses of prayer and rest, I’m making great progress in my recovery.

I was listening to a Rich Mullins CD yesterday and he has this song WHERE YOU ARE, and he comments about Daniel in the den of the lion, Jonah in the belly of the whale, 3 Hebrew children in the fiery furnace. He has this one line that I kept thinking about, “Oh, you’ll meet Lord in the furnace–long time before you meet Him in the sky.”

With the problems of life and the interferences that the devil tries to throw our way, I think that phrase is definitely true. Have you had a few furnace encounters this week? Take heart – the fire can’t burn you when God is by your side. Feel like you’re in the lion’s den? God will close tight the mouths of those that would harm you. Are you in the belly of the whale? Rejoice, because soon you’ll get thrown up on the beach. Well, okay, so that one doesn’t sound like as much fun, but you know what I mean. Our troubles – the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:17 (New International Version) For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. Here’s to eternal glory!

Be blessed this week and take heart – God is soooooo good!!