"be satisfied"

Friday, November 9, 2018 (7:07 a.m. EST)

Pigeon Forge, TN

Holy, Holy God,

Thank You! Thank You. Thank You. Thank You. You have shown us beauty beyond description. Kindnesses. Simplicity. And we are truly grateful.

Holy God, You have given us tremendous opportunities to practice being satisfied. It seems to be a relatively new concept for me.

I confess my tendency of dwelling on mistakes and disappointments. Instead of truly accentuating the positives and eliminating the negatives I seem more inclined to do the opposite.

The phrase I have practiced more than any other this week is, “Be satisfied”. Things don’t always go our way. There are disappointments that can overwhelm us. If/when we let them. Hence my latest mantra. “Be satisfied”.

I just missed another one! A chance to take the perfect picture from our hotel window. One moment the lights across the parkway were exactly right on the neon Christmas trees [yes Christmas comes early to Pigeon Forge, TN] atop Smoky Mountain Opry. Before acting on the notion, the windows steamed. Rain started falling. Daylight broke and the brilliance faded.

Here again I practice being satisfied.

Your Word tells us to rejoice in You always (Philippians 4:4). Rejoice. Be joyful. Happy. Pleased. Glad. Delighted. Yes Father. Teach me to TRULY celebrate any disappointment and be satisfied. Yes Father. Yes.

Beauty. Kindness. Simplicity. Joy. Satisfaction. Teach me Father. Empower and embolden me in the very fine art of truly being satisfied. I long to learn.

(9:09 a.m.)

And here’s another thing I’m finding out about myself. In my quest to not be at fault for disappointments, I often attempt to place blame. Trying to get a leg ahead or above others. Father, save me from myself! Keep working Your will and Your way into my being.

I love You. I am excited to see how You are going to challenge us next. Knowing that You will. I no longer want to live fearful and afraid. I want to embrace every single opportunity that You put in front of us knowing, trusting and believing that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).

On that very same note I turn back to Psalm 51, verses 6 and 8. Right this moment from The Passion Translation. “I know that You delight to set Your Truth deep in my spirit. So come into the hidden places of my heart” (6). Oh yes Dear Lord!

“Satisfy me in Your sweetness, and my song of joy will return. The places within me You have crushed will rejoice in Your healing touch” (8). And here I add, yes! Yes, oh Lord.

The Message spells it all out in such pure country fashion. “I’ve been out of step with You for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What You’re after is Truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life. Soak me in Your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life” (vs. 5-9).

And it just goes on from there! Asking not to be thrown out with the trash. But to have You breathe holiness into me. To bring me back from gray exile with a fresh wind in my sails. Teaching rebels Your ways, so the lost can find their way home.

Oh most Blessed God, make this all so. Truly teach me to be satisfied with a willingness [I just noticed that with an ’s’ instead of a ‘w’ willingness almost becomes silliness] to celebrate disappointments. Whatever, however, whenever they arise.

I love You Daddy God. “Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to Your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips dear God; I’ll let loose with Your praise” (14-15).

Thank You for Your blessings. Your love. And Your delightful surprises. Keep working in us that we will freely share it all with others. Thank You Father. I love You. Amen.

(708 words ~ 9:44 a.m.)