A Guest Post by Lauren Morgan
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in worship feeling frustrated with the many ways that the world did not measure up with God’s good creation, with the people who have let me down, and why God isn’t working faster to correct where we have gotten off track. In fact, I was realizing that I have been feeling more frustration than joy for the past month. I cried out to God from my pew, “I don’t want to live this way! How can I see the brokenness of the world, lament its brokenness, and be moved to take action, but also live with abundant joy?” I heard him whisper calmly a verse from Philippians:
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy —
think about such things.”
I began to look around our auditorium with fresh eyes, and I saw David and Sandy Goin loving on their granddaughter, Brynley. I thought to myself, “She knows how deeply her grandparents love her.” It was lovely. Then, I saw Lindsay Garner and her two sweet boys, Nathan and Ryan. I saw how patient she is with them, and how they light up in her presence. They want nothing more than to be in her lap with their arms wrapped tightly around her. It was pure. I was nearly weeping as my eyes were opened wide to the beauty of my church family.
The next day, I was sitting on my back porch doing my Bible study. I opened my phone to the devotional I had planned to read that day, and it was the same passage! I laughed with tears in my eyes and cried out, “God you are so good!” I started to meditate on this verse. “Whatever is true” – Christ is the son of God and He loves me so much. “Whatever is noble” – I thought about Aaron Thornburg and how he spent the first year of his marriage serving our country overseas. “Whatever is pure” – I thought about Mabel Bocks, a newborn baby, and how good it feels to rock her in my arms. I needed these reminders.
Like me, you may need a reminder this morning that our God is alive and active! He cares deeply for us, and He hears our cries. He heard mine and He responded! He will hear yours and respond to you too. May we cry out to God and wait expectantly for Him to make Himself known to us anew. How great is the Lord Almighty!
